The end of the season is in sight and people are beginning to discuss how many players we need to bring in for next season and who they should be. But with a worrying amount of dead wood and the added pressure of meeting 25-man squad regulations, we need to get busy offloading players before we even think of bringing anyone in.
So just who, realistically, could be shown the door this summer?
You'd imagine Robbie Keane and David Bentley will be the first through the exit door as they are already out on loan. The problem is that Keane didn't really perform at West Ham and, having been relegated, they're in no position to be throwing money around. That, and the striker will not want to play in the Championship if he can help it.
Wolves, where Keane started his career, would get the emotional vote for his signature, but Celtic may be interested after he impressed Neil Lennon on loan last season. He should probably never have left Hampden Park in the first place.
Bentley will also prove difficult to get rid of, as Birmingham have cited the same old problems with his attitude that are bound to turn off potential employers. We are going to have to take a huge loss on his original fee (that's a theme we're going to have to grin and bear this summer), I would think a £6m bid from Mark Hughes' Fulham is about the best we can hope for, although Newcastle have a tendency of spending big money on flair players, unless they've learned their lesson after relegation.
Giovani Dos Santos is also out on loan, and the smart money is on him signing a full contract at Racing Santander, although a lot of Spurs fans
would like to see him given the chance to impress in our first team as we've never really seen what he can do. However, Gio soon turns 22 and no longer has a free pass into the squad, next season he'll have to be registered on the list 25, and that may not be a risk worth taking.
It's barely worth mentioning Jonathan Woodgate, if he goes then we aren't going to get any money for him, if he stays, he'll never make the 25-man squad. Best bet? Give him a coaching role and be done with it, the man knows positioning like nobody else and the sooner that knowledge is passed on to
our shaky defence, the better.
So far, so simple, then there's Niko Krancjar, Roman Pavlyuchenko and, as of yesterday, Jermain Defoe, who have all bemoaned the lack of first team opportunities and could be looking to get away.
Krancjar has been rumoured to interest QPR, he's one of the few
who we may make some money on as we was originally a bargain at £2m. QPR of course have the financial clout, and could be in the market for a playmaker if their star prospect Adel Taarabt is prised from their grasp in the close season.
Surely Pavlyuchenko's writing is finally on the wall. He whinges and whines every season when he doesn't get a game and then he gets given a run in the team and never takes the opportunity, missing hatfuls of chances in the process. We all know he's got the talent, he shows some wonderful vision and scores some good goals but the application for a full season's work isn't there and Harry must have had enough by now.
I'd expect Crouch to escape all but the biggest of culls, such is his effectiveness in Europe. He also has a positive attitude, never complaining to the press, and Redknapp will be mindful of the partnership he struck up with Rafa Van Der Vaart at the start of the season, it's gold if they can rediscover it.
Apart from all this, there's the small matters of what to do about our dysfunctional keeper and our wonderkid winger. I do of course mean Heurelho Gomes and Gareth Bale. How we handle those two could prove to be season, or era-defining. But getting the small things right comes first and, as far as sorting the men from the boys goes, it's open season.
WE'll look into inbound possibilities after Sundays game when we know our European fate. See you then.
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