Olympic stadium is a distraction from the job in hand

The club yesterday made a statement explaining their intentions to push on with a further  appeal over the process by which the right to play in the Olympic Stadium was awarded to West Ham.

The statement read:

"The Club has today (Wednesday) applied to the High Court to renew its application for permission to bring a claim against the London Borough of Newham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the Mayor of London and Government Ministers for judicial review of their decisions underlying the bid process for the conversion of the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. Under this process the Club now has the opportunity to present its case at an oral hearing at the High Court."

I'll be honest, I don't care. This whole stadium issue is not only tedious and a clear dead end but it indicates that the club is not totally focused on the top priority, which is developing our squad for next season. 

We have six weeks to negotiate enough outgoing deals to fund some big improvements to the squad and to convince Luka Modric and Gareth Bale not to ply their trade elsewhere. Right now, there is no evidence of anything happening.

Yes, the club needs a bigger stadium, supporters are on season ticket waiting lists for years on end and regular folk can't get into a home game for love nor money (well, they can get in for money, but most people don't have enough of it to afford the few seats that do go on general sale). But is there really any point in having a 60,000 seater stadium full of pissed-off, embittered football fans all discussing what went wrong in the summer of 2011?

Daniel Levy is undoubtedly going to leave a long-standing legacy at Tottenham but it remains to be seen whether it will be a successful team that we can all be proud to support or whether it will be a stadium debacle that cost us our seat at the top table.

O' Hara on the move as the board gets shirty over Modric saga

Outgoing transfer alert! We've sold Jamie O'Hara to Wolves for £5million. Is it really a coincidence that this happens immediately after the Luka Modric saga stepped up a gear?

Chairman Levy was always adamant that we need to sell before we buy and Modric's suggestion that he wants to leave has now sparked our summer into action.

The official line is that we can match Modric's ambition and are prepared to prove that by bringing in the big names necessary to mount a serious Top 4 assault next term.

If that's the case, then the O'Hara sale is a good sign that the wheels are in motion and we can expect a few more to follow relatively soon as the club look to free up funds for some major signings.

The club have also released pictures of the new home strip for next season. I'm pretty sure that the last one was meant to last the full two seasons as promised and we weren't all going to have to go and buy yet another new home shirt?

Irked or annoyed you may be, but the club have a foolproof cure for this... it's Luka Modric, in the new Spurs shirt, surely they wouldn't release a picture of him in the suave, retro-style new kit and still sell him. Look how happy he is, he must be staying. Last year's shirt? we've forgotten it already.





What everyone's keenly rejecting to notice is that, in our new away shirt Modric looks more than a little bit like he's wearing the colours of a certain local rival.

Maybe that's part of the Modric stay-put package, "If you stay and play for us, we'll let you wear a Chelsea shirt, hell, you can all wear Chelsea shirts.

Redknapp urges board to keep Modric promise

Harry Redknapp says Daniel Levy has "got to stand by" his statement that the club are not prepared to sell Luka Modric at any price.

Speaking to radio station TalkSport, Redknapp suggested that any U-turn over the sale of the Croatian could plunge us into mid-table mediocrity - an exaggeration maybe, but Redknapp has now made his feelings well clear.

The gaffer said: "“It’s a happy thing to have a player like Luka Modric, who has suddenly turned into a £50million, £40million player and everyone wants him.

“We’re lucky we’ve got him and we aren’t selling him, that’s what the chairman says and that’s good enough for me.

“If we sell Luka Modric where are we going as a football club? We’ll have to accept then that we’re a middle of the table team that will finish in the top-half next season and really that’s not what the chairman wants, it’s not what I want. It’s not, most importantly, what the fans want.

To read the full statement, visit Talk Sport.

Chairman stands firm over Modric

Daniel Levy, I'm proud of you. I woke up to the news that Luka Modric wants to leave and my heart sank but today's club statement has cheered me up.

It's going to be extremely difficult to keep hold of him if he actually wants out, and we don't want to be in the same situation as Arsenal with Fabregas.

We either need to convince Modric that this is where he belongs, or let him go - keeping him here against his will is counter-productive and you'll probably find that early next week he'll either sign a vastly improved contract or hand in a transfer request.

What Levy's statement on the club's website this morning has done, is swung the balance of power back in our favour. It is now clear that Chelsea, or anyone else, will have to not only break, but bulldoze the bank to land the Croatian.

Here's what the chairman said on the official club website, www.spurs.co.uk

"I wish to make it absolutely clear, as I have said previously, that none of our key players will be sold this summer. We are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that.

"In respect of Luka Modric, we are not prepared to sell, at any price, to Chelsea Football Club or any other club.

"We made our stance on this issue abundantly clear in writing to Chelsea. They chose to ignore it and then subsequently made the offer public.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, let me reiterate that we shall not enter into any negotiations whatsoever, with any Club, regarding Luka.

"We now consider this matter closed."

The fixtures are out...

As promised, the fixtures are out and, say what you want about having to play everyone twice regardless, a good start is always essential to sustain a decent Top 4 campaign.

Saturday, 13 August 2011
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00

Saturday, 20 August 2011
Man Utd v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 27 August 2011
Tottenham v Man City, 15:00

Saturday, 10 September 2011
Wolverhampton v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 17 September 2011
Tottenham v Liverpool, 15:00

That's a difficult opening, whatever way you look at it, but it does mean that if we can get 10 points on the board it will have been a terrific start. Nobody wants to play Manchester United that early on, but our record up there is dreadful, so it's difficult to look at is as anything but zero points. That said, United can be slow starters, so maybe it'll be of benefit to play them before they get into their stride. And if we can get a result it'll set us up perfectly to take on Manchester City at home the following week.

Saturday, 24 September 2011
Wigan v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 1 October 2011
Tottenham v Arsenal, 15:00

Saturday, 15 October 2011
Newcastle v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 22 October 2011
Blackburn v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 29 October 2011
Tottenham v QPR, 15:00

Saturday, 5 November 2011
Fulham v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 19 November 2011
Tottenham v Aston Villa, 15:00

Saturday, 26 November 2011
West Brom v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 3 December 2011
Tottenham v Bolton, 15:00

Saturday, 10 December 201
Stoke v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 17 December 2011
Tottenham v Sunderland, 15:00

Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Tottenham v Chelsea, 19:45

Monday, 26 December 2011
Norwich v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 31 December 2011
Swansea v Tottenham, 15:00

Monday, 2 January 2012
Tottenham v West Brom, 15:00

Saturday, 14 January 2012
Tottenham v Wolverhampton, 15:00

Saturday, 21 January 2012
Man City v Tottenham, 15:00

Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Tottenham v Wigan, 19:45

Saturday, 4 February 2012
Liverpool v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 11 February 2012
Tottenham v Newcastle, 15:00

Saturday, 25 February 2012
Arsenal v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 3 March 2012
Tottenham v Man Utd, 15:00

Saturday, 10 March 2012
Everton v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 17 March 2012
Tottenham v Stoke, 15:00

Saturday, 24 March 2012
Chelsea v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 31 March 2012
Tottenham v Swansea, 15:00

Saturday, 7 April 2012
Sunderland v Tottenham, 15:00

Monday, 9 April 2012
Tottenham v Norwich, 15:00

Saturday, 14 April 2012
Bolton v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 21 April 2012
QPR v Tottenham, 15:00

Saturday, 28 April 2012
Tottenham v Blackburn, 15:00

Saturday, 5 May 2012
Aston Villa v Tottenham, 15:00

Sunday, 13 May 2012
Tottenham v Fulham, 15:00

I was going to attempt to break the season down into six-game blocks and make appraisals of our chances in each section. However, we've all been following football for long enough to know that predictions at this stage are futile. Especially when there are future transfers and European draws to take into account. One thing that is for sure is that very few of these games will remain on Saturdays, so don't put any ink in your diary just yet.

Spurs have a busy summer, but where's the activity?

Over a week into the transfer window and teams are beginning to show their intentions. While Liverpool and Manchester United are making huge offers early on, Spurs have signed ageing Brad Friedel on a free transfer.

What United and the Reds have moved quickly to indicate is not just their willingness to spend but their desire to plan for the future.

Spurs, on the other hand have delved into the bargain bucket for a transient solution to the goalkeeping conundrum, adding yet another name to a squad bursting at the seams in the process.

In case you didn't know, Liverpool have agreed terms with Jordan Henderson over a £16-20million switch from Sunderland, whereas Blackburn's young defender Phil Jones is close to securing a high-profile £17m switch to Manchester United, along with Aston Villa's Ashley Young.

Interpretation of our Friedel freebie depends on who pushed for the transfer; board or manager. If Harry Redknapp was the instigator, then it signals he's looking for short-term gain; maybe he's seriously eyeing the England job so isn't looking past next season, or maybe he just wants a wise, experienced head to bring some much-needed organisation to our back four.

The worry, and it is a big worry, is if it was the board's choice. Arsenal may only have shelled out £1million on their first signing Carl Jenkinson this week, but the Finland Under-21 star's capture does signify that Arsenal still have one eye on building for the future.

Our mid-noughties tactic of signing young british talent seems to have fallen by the wayside. Maybe it is seen in part to have backfired; Jermaine Jenas is unable to hold down a first team place, Tom Huddlestone is failing to fill the boots of his own huge potential and the £18m capture of David Bentley can only be seen as a tremendous waste of resources.

Potential ability costs a lot of money at the moment and clubs are only too happy to hold out for £20m-plus for largely unproven players. You can't blame chairman Levy for waiting to find a proven talent before he signs the big cheques but he has to back the manager and, with Redknapp seeing fit to repeat in public that he wants "Daniel to go out and get three fantastic players", there are signs that the support is not forthcoming.

If murmurs in the press are to be believed then Levy's enthusiasm over the Redknapp reign may be at a low ebb but this is a crucial time for Tottenham and the chairman cannot afford to let his interest wain. The fans can accept we need to sell before we buy but so far Redknapp has claimed that Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch are not for sale, and that even Robbie Keane could force his way back into the team.

Levy needs to get a move on and kickstart our summer, as the rumoured streamlining of the playing staff seems like a distant memory. If Jamie O'Hara heads to Wolves and Robbie Keane joins Martin Jol at Fulham we are still above the 25-man Premier League quota even before adding to the squad.

The Friedel transfer is done and, who knows, maybe it'll take the pressure off Heurelho Gomes giving him a chance to get his confidence back. Friedel could even teach the Brazilian how to catch a ball with two hands. But from now on, players need to go, full stop. The board can't be messing around waiting for as much money as possible, we need gaps on the team sheet and space in the payroll. Cue the exodus...