As a Tottenham Hotspur fan I will settle down at home to watch the Champions League final later on, fully behind a German team to beat an English one, but in the back of my mind I’m not only worried about Chelsea being successful, but if Spurs miss out on a Champions League place then I fear about the future of Luka Modric.
If Chelsea beat Bayern Munich tonight Spurs are out of next year’s competition, it’s as simple as that. I have watched Spurs throw away third position to scrapping it out for fourth, seeing them stumble and stutter over the finish line. They could miss out on a potential £25 million jackpot, but also miss out on summer transfer targets, creating concern of Spurs’ better players like Modric.
The thought of playing the likes of Slovan Bratislava on a Thursday night in the UEFA Europa League next season can hardly be encouraging for Modric, when he has played against Italian giants AC Milan and rivals Inter, while also testing himself against Real Madrid, and tonight’s final in Munich could be a catalyst for where his future lies.
It has been no secret among the Spurs fans of his antics last year when he tried to pave his move to rivals Chelsea, handing in a transfer request in search of playing regular Champions League football for a bigger club. His move didn’t materialise, not in that case, but if Chelsea win, he is as good as gone as other clubs will enter the race for him.
Despite signing a new contract in May 2010 which will keep him at White Harte Lane until 2016, the influential midfielder has said that he will ” decide his future after the Euros” in a statement that is surely to worry the Spurs faithful, and they should be as the Manchester clubs are likely to be sniffing round the Croatian this summer.
The success of the Manchester clubs this season has been incredible, but the financial muscle both clubs will be flexing is a worry to Spurs and the rest of Europe. United need to replace Paul Scholes and Modric wouldn’t be a bad replacement. Intelligent, skilful, creates chances and has a wonderful football brain. Whereas City are always looking to improve and bolster their squad.
Teams will be looking at Modric over the summer, knowing that the lure of a lucrative salary and guarantee of Champions League could prove too much for chairman Daniel Levy and manager Harry Redknapp, who could be forced to sell, something Spurs fans have seen too often, with Dimitar Berbatov moving to Old Trafford a painful reminder.
When players sign contracts, it means nothing. Footballers will “commit” to the club with a long term deal and then a year later hand in a transfer request. Modric has until 2016 to run on his contract but as much as it pains me to say, Spurs can’t guarantee Champions League football, City and United can, and will do for years to come which is a big factor.
The 26 year- old- has been instrumental at Spurs since joining from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008 for £16.5 million, pulling the strings in midfield and bamboozling defenders up and down the country, creating goals and playing some fine football. It will be a very nervous summer for Spurs fans with Gareth Bale also linked with a big money move. Tonight is so important for the future of the club.
As I hope to see a spectacle of football later on, I can’t help but think that Modric’s phenomenal goal against Bolton Wanderers last month could be his last in the lilywhite shirt of Spurs. Don’t be surprised if you see him on £100k+ a week, it’s just a shame it will likely to be away from White Hart Lane, sadly.
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Modric did NOT hand in a transfer request, tabloid nonsense.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/14/luka-modric-transfer-request-chelsea
As usual, just another boring defeatist article covering the same old subject.
If we fail to qualify for CL it will be down to Redknapps poor management. Lack of tactics, poor subs, lack of ambition in the transfer window and his all round inabilty as a top 4 manager. He is out of his league and instead of adding to the core of a talented squad he brought in old past it players whilst weakening the squad. If we fail at getting the CL place we would of had a worse season than Liverpool. At least they won a cup and got to another final to get a europa league place. We will suffer getting dumped in that competition, losing our best players and having chelsea rub that trophy in our faces..all because of harry bloody redknapp!
Redsnaps should go ..I said it when he joined he was a bottle job and I will always say it … If Modric goes then so be it, there will ALWAYS be somebody else out their to fill the shoes and in truth he has not shined (like Bale) this season, we are due to bad management and player who have drifted in and out of games, it is every ones fault not just one person … If I was boss it would be TaTa VDV, Rose, Livermore, Saha and the other OAP he got in Jan, Bently, Dos Santos, Defoe and many of the other players on the outside looking in – Our team has too many mid table players and not enough winners. VDV cannot take a free kick to save his life (look at how he was shown up by Walker) and his corners are just as bad. I see now why Madrid got rid of him … Long live Spurs as a club is bigger than any player or manager.
Let bale and modric go and take the 80m
what a bunch of cnuts on this site. you arseholes are either 12 years old or not spurs fans. oh yes, how dare Harry only finish 4th? how could he possibly finish behind the worlds biggest club, the worlds richest club and a team with revenues and wage bill almost 50% higher than ours. and to only finish 5 points ahead of Chelsea, with their wage bill double ours. how dare he?!
wankers. you really need to be careful what you wish for. before Redknapp we had NEVER finished in the top 4 in the pl, never above Liverpool and not above Chelsea since 1996 (probably when the posters above were born…). Our last three finishes read 4-5-4. Pure coincidence that these finishes have coincided with the 3 full seasons Redknapps been in charge is it? yeah, sure, that makes sense.
as for the article, it’s overly negative and factually incorrect. Modric has never handed a transfer request in. not out of loyalty, but because he wants to be paid a chunk of the transfer fee if he goes. and there is nothing compelling spurs to sell, regardless of CL status. that’s not to say he won’t be sold – personally I would let him go for £40m, but not to Chelsea or city on principle
Your the wanker – I have been a Spurs fan Boy to man and now in my 50’s … with the squads we have had we should have been 1st or 2nd this yr … but Harry bottled it along with the players. A good manager fights to the end, money does not always guarantee anything (look at Chelski/Liverpool/Arsehols etc.) What makes a good team is somebody who knows what to do when the chips are down and fights with all his might, not looks to the next job (England) and lets his team/fans down. Harry always had the intention of using us as a stepping stone and it has back fired big time. We need a manager and players who are fully committed and who can still perform when the chips are down. Now get lost u gooner….
Dickhead, ur talking out ur arse! Has it just been pure luck that we’ve managed 2 top 4 finishes in the last 3 years. Yes I admit Harry’s head turned quicker than a greyhound with an arse full of dynamite over the England job but can you really honestly say that we should be in 1st or 2nd had that not have happened?? We suffered far too much through injury to our cb’s. That I believe was the root cause of our demise!
no, you’re the wanker. if you’re in your 50s you should appreciate this spurs era more than anyone. how do we suddenly have the right to demand winning the league? no team is perfect and it’s fickle fans like you that give the rest of the true fans a bad name. i suppose you think brendan rodgers or roberto martinez would come in and transform us into title contenders? or perhaps jose mourinho is desperate to manage spurs? we were looking at relegation 4 years ago with virtually the same squad!
well said paul f, finally a realist. sick of some absolutely delusional spurs fans.
I expect more from someone who claims to be a long time fan. What a dickhead. I’ve never been to WHL or even London, Harry has done a very good job. What’s wrong in being ambitious and wanting to lead England? I am disappointed with today’s outcome but Harry and Spurs has brought back belief. Seriously, sure we didn’t last, but what an amazing and entertaining first half of the season!!!! I’m no Londoner but surely a proud Spurs!
What an imbecile you must be Paul f. Peter is entirely right. Now, after this particular final and UCL campaign in which Chelsea played badly but in the end won, something Spurs haven’t got a clue how to craft because we have a tactical pigmy as a manager, how do you feel?
Especially about the impending exodus from our team of our better players and the retention or incoming of the sub-standard ones?
Just watch the mediocrity that will once again be served upon us next year. Levy should sack the ignorant moron Redkrapp tomorrow. It barely matters who he brings in to replace him. The squad, organization and processes have a stink around them which will only be expunged when that turd is well and truly flushed down the toilet.
I have a 12 year old kid who understands more about what is going that you clearly do.
Does the “f” stand for fukkwit?
Okay, you’re right and the entire professional footballing world is wrong. Tit!
If Chelsea win we will surely not give them modric even if it means we let him rot in the reserves
So sorry lads, we are out of the champs league. Goodbye Modric, Bale etc. No matter what tactics employed by the manager, its the players that have the responsibility to execute that plan. Losing to Norwich at home was pathetic. We dont deserve to be in the champions league, not after losing a ten point advantage to those misfits originating from Highbury. Its back to the drawing board. I only hope that Levy sees that Harry and most of our current players cant carry the club to the next level.
……..fuk arry…ginger cuzt fukked up this season and looked like a right cuzt doing it too!! crap tactics, crap subs, too much press and media garbage. Talks the team up 1 minute and down the next!!!…hes fukkin clueless the twat! Kept Defoe on the fukkin bench when we needed someone to score!!! Utter cuzt! Cant wait to see the cunt out the door!
I am gutted, but the blame cant be all down to Harry, we had a superb 1sy half season, and the players themselves let us down, harry can only do so much but I agree rum n coke Defoe our tp scorere was constantly left on the subs bench..a total waste, the whole team gave away a ten point advantage… they have to take the blame, the very fact that half of them will leave because THEY didnt make it to the CL is a joke !!!!
What’s all this we was in a relegation battle rubbish 7 games of the season had gone and we won a cup the season before. It was relegation form just like how we played at the end of this season. And before that we was finishing 5th with martin jol so we really have not improved that much actually. Stop lissoning to Harry loool
I have to agree.redschnapps sold us down the river..he knew.we all knew the sooner he he is hown the door the better,
I agree with spencer.Losing to Norwich at home was pathetic.
Man, this forum is full of fair-weather Spurs fans. Disgusting attitude.
Absolutely gifted by last night’s result and do believe that it will trigger some unwanted transfer activity. How we got into this mess is a combination of a tactically limited manager and IMO a team who got too cocky (Emirates) then lost their confidence for a crucial month. How we get out of this mess will probably be to let Modric go, clear out as much of the deadwood as possible (Gomes, Corluka, Jenas, Bassong, Bentley, Dos Santos, Pienaar, Krancjar) and reinvest in a young keeper, a quality CB and a couple of strikers. Oh, and fight to keep hold of Bale, obviously. Would like to hope DL won’t let both him and Modric leave. As for the manager, I would frankly like to see change, whther precipitated by another club taking HR or by refusing to extend his contract and putting some succession in place. I just wonder whether Brendan Rodgers has been tipped the wink. I’d take him or Martinez in a heartbeat. We need some new and fresh ideas to revive us after such an anti-climactic end to the season. COYS
Gifted? Gutted actually. Thank you predictive text!!