Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Good article/dreaming/rubbish, will let Spurs fans decide!

http://www.london24.com/sport/footba...79081#cxrecs_s

SIX new signings for the first eleven? That article pretty much describes the opposite of what I'd want to happen this summer

[EJG1980]

Massive news for the future of the club:

NORTHUMBERLAND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - CPO CONFIRMED

The Club is pleased to announce that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has confirmed the Compulsory Purchase Order made by Haringey Council in respect of the remaining land required for the Northumberland Development Project. This is a very significant step in the CPO process.

The Club has used the intervening period productively and has refined detailed design of the stadium in order to ensure it is future-proofed and optimised.

We shall provide our supporters with a further update and timeline on the Northumberland Development Project as soon as we are able to do so.

[EJG1980]

New home and away kits launched today, third kit comes out in August, I think.

I've preferred some of our other more recent kits but hopefully they will be remembered for us winning a lot in them rather than what they look like





There's a lot of fancy detail in the shoulders to mark the tenth anniversary of Bill Nicholson's death. It has the patterns of the gates at White Hart Lane, words from Bill Nic quotes, etc..



Our first friendly of the summer vs Seattle Sounders is on BT Sport (or free on the Spurs web site) at 9PM on Saturday. It'll be good to see Dempsey again, I thought he was underrated in his time with us, always seemed to pop up with important goals.

[EJG1980]

We've signed Ben Davies and Michel Vorm from Swansea. A much needed left back as we only have Rose in that position, and good competition / cover for Lloris.

Gylfi Sigurdsson is going the other way and joining Swansea. It's a shame to see him go as he's good player but he could never quite nail down a starting spot week in and week out, so it's probably best for him to go where he will play every week.

Most reports I've seen are saying that it's a straight swap of Davies for Sigurdsson and ?2 million for Vorm.

[fallenangle]

GS was another under-used attacking midfielders I liked too. But Spurs had to off-load some of the midfielders, just hope they spend any money they've made/saved with their sell offs on the positions we really need cover for and/or better quality than the existing selection.

[EJG1980]

It looks like a good first step in giving the squad a better balance. Lose a player from our overstocked midfield and add a promising young player in a position where we had no cover.

Stayed up last night and watched the first half of Spurs vs Toronto before I gave in to sleep just after the second half started. Far too early to read much into it but you could definitely see the players starting to implement the Pochettino style, lots of pressing the opposition when out of possession, nice quick passing in attack and good interchanging and movement up front.

A lovely couple of goals by Erik Lamela who was excellent in the first half, early days but encouraging. My biggest hope for this season (apart from Spurs doing well in general, obviously) is that Lamela is able to find his form, stay injury free, and show what a really excellent player he is.

Second goal especially was very nice:

[fallenangle]

Yep, good goal. I like the way he looked up momentarily to check the position of the goal/goalkeeper before shooting; shows a quick mind.

[EJG1980]

Poor bloody Southampton:

Spurs close in on Southampton's Schneiderlin & Rodriguez

Having lost players like Berbatov, Modric and Bale, us Spurs fans know how gutting it is to lose one of your top players; I can't imagine how horrible this exodus is for Saints fans.

[VR46]

I know, I just read that, they will have sold about eight top players by the time the new season starts, wonder what Koeman is thinking now.

[EJG1980]

Hmm, interesting development, the Southampton chairman has been on Sky Sports News and said that they will definitely not be selling Schneiderlin and Rodriguez. It seems (from a quick perusal of some Saints forums) that the fans aren't exactly convinced that he will stick to his word and will be more than a tad annoyed if they still end up being sold.

[VR46]

Bet they won't sell until they have at least a couple of new players coming in.

This made me chuckle this morning

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2143405-ronald-koeman-tweets-empty-southampton-training-ground-after-selling-stars

[EJG1980]

Schneiderlin seems to have reacted well to his Chairman's words...

[EJG1980]

Danny Rose has signed a new five year contract. I'm really glad to hear that as there were rumours (unfounded it seems) that he wanted to leave after we'd signed Ben Davies which would have once again meant only having one proper left back. Good to know we're going to have proper cover / competition in that spot with two young players hopefully pushing each other to get better and better.

Also a lot of reports today that we're on the verge of signing twenty year old centre back Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon for ?4 million. A rare example of a young English player who started their career abroad.

[EJG1980]

We did indeed sign Eric Dier. He did well in the friendly against Schalke, slotted in nicely and didn't look out of place, although I think his starts will come mainly in the cup competitions when the season gets under way. A promising one for the future.

We've also just announced the signing of twenty-one year old right back DeAndre Yedlin from Seattle Sounders, although he's staying with Seattle until next summer.

I remember him coming on and doing well against Belgium for the USA in the World Cup and he looked like a decent player in our friendly against Seattle. Funny seeing him posing at the training ground in the current season's shirt, seeing as he'll never wear it in a match

[fallenangle]

More rumours (The Independent) about some deal with HR at QPR for Loic Remy in exchange for Andros Townsend and Harry Kane. Wanting to get rid of Andros Townsend I just don't understand; he is unpolished and inconsistent but give him some time in the first team and I think he'll turn into a really valuable asset. He is, at the very least, a natural sub for Aaron Lennon, whose regular solid but unspectacular performances in the last few years have fallen short of what he originally promised.

Harry Kane not so bothered about although in all the most recent appearances I've seen he's been as good up front as Soldado