World Domination

We all know that Premiership football is today a global commodity, having travelled the world I can lay testament to that. You would be genuinely amazed at some of the backwaters a person can spot a Man United shirt these days, I even saw one in America once!

As such, Premiership teams are now firmly established brands and so canny marketeers tend to use pre-season as an excuse to strengthen their foothold in lucrative foreign markets. Gone are the days when Liverpool would warm up for the season with an away tie to Oldham, now instead it's off to Hong Kong to play South China FC in front of 60,000. Even Fulham and Portsmouth have joined the party that is the Barclay's Asia Trophy, although I really can't see the Chinese rushing out to get "Nugent" printed on the back of their moody replica Portsmouth shirts.

Chelsea and Man Utd have the Asian market pretty much sewn up. I can tell you from personal experience that there's nothing more grating that a Thai/Cambodian/Malaysian shouting "Ahhh, Manchester, Arsenal, Chelsea" at you upon discovering you're English.

"Tottenham."
"Huh? Lotland?"
"No, Tott-en-ham-Hot-spur."
"Hahaha, yes, Riverpoo yes!!!"
"NO. TOTT-EN-HAM"

Trust me, this can happen anything up to 5 times a day.

The Big Two have obviously identified the USA as an emerging market. It's a bit of a gamble, as Beckham fever is not going to last forever, but if the yanks do get switched on then they are definitely a nation that will want to back winners. Arsenal have opted to strengthen their brand in Europe (or perhaps can't afford the plane fares) and are in the prestigeous Amsterdam Tournament along with Inter Milan, PSG, Lazio and Ajax - surely a better preparation in footballing terms.

So my question is this: Why have Spurs gone for South Africa? There's no doubt that the Africans love their footy, but is the African Pound really a good pound to go for? Clearly the Chiefs and the Pirates are the top 2 club sides in Africa, but is there a better opportunity elsewhere? Compound this with the fact that we did much the same tour a few years back and you have to wonder what the board are seeing that we are not.

If, as Jose Mourinho believes, we are now including ourselves in the Big Five, then I believe that the focus should be on gaining more exposure on the bigger markets. The Asian economy is booming, none more so than in China. With over a billion potential new customers, and a country that is really embracing football, I would have plugged a tour on the Chinese mainland.

Failing that, Japan would have been a good destination. Cash rich Japanese adore soccer, and with Steve Perryman and Gary Lineker having plied their trade over there then I'm sure it wouldn't take much to recruit them into the yid army. Or perhaps joining Chelsea and Man Utd in the states would have been a better way to announce that we have arrived. Get the yanks talking about the three of us at the same time and we automatically get tarred with the same publicity brush.

Instead we get 3 games on dubious surfaces against the Kaiser Cheifs, the Orlando Pirates and, well erm... the Kaiser Chiefs or the Orlando Pirates again. It hardly generates the prestige or the excitement of the Peace Cup a few years back. But South Africa it is, and we shall never know what we missed out on. Still, on the brighter side, at least the Africans won't have any trouble pronouncing our name.

Long Live the Prince

No matter how much I preach that a Spurs fan should only get excited about transfer activity when announcements are delivered on the official site, it would seem as though I, like everyone else, just can't help it.

All the more reliable news agencies (no tribalfootball, that does NOT include you) are convinced that Spurs have had a £5m bid for Berlin's 20 year old midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng accepted. What were you first thoughts when you heard this news (apart from wondering why he has such a silly first name)?

Mine were "Great, he must be a young talented left midfielder". I was wrong. It seems as though he is actually a "physical central midfielder", and although that has come from the recently confused Daily Mail, this time they seem to be right.

I read a few profiles which rightly pointed out that he was Germany's young player of the year last year, and is widely renowned to be one of the most creative players in the Hertha Berlin team, with a plethora of assists and 4 goals to his name in 43 appearances. In fact, Wikipedia describe him as

"a very dynamic central midfielder. His skill and pace are complemented by
advanced tactical awareness and a powerful physique. Rivaldo and Pele are his
role models and he occasionally imitates the Brazilian duo with spectacular
crowd-pleasing moments."

Sounds good doesn't he? This guy is young, talented and seems to be developing well. There's every chance that he will turn out to be a great investment and could easily be a £10-15m+ player in the next 4 or 5 years. Or better still, become a vital member of our first team.

We currently have Zokora, Jenas, Huddlestone, Malbranque, Tainio, Murphy and even Ghaly who all prefer a central midfield role. Now, whilst the last three of those are almost certainly being touted to other clubs, they haven't gone anywhere yet and some fans may be thinking that we have things covered in the middle, and that maybe this new boy will hinder Huddlestone's progress.

Looking again though, if you do cut Murphy, Tainio and Ghaly out of the equation [and let's hope so] - and you assume that Malbranque is going to be used wide on either flank, then perhaps it is looking a bit thin in the middle.

If the player formerly known as Kevin is as good as they say, if he is combative in the tackle AND a fountain of creativity, if he is reliable positionally when asked to defend as well as being capable of popping up with the occasional goal, then there could be every chance that Spurs are about to sign the Ghanaian/German Steven Gerrard.

And I think we'd all be happy with that.

Will He Stay Or Will He Go

What a pickle the Daily Mail seem to be in today. It is with a mixture of amusement and annoyance that I noticed 2 stories pop up on the oracle of all things Tottenham - newsnow.

Story 1 declared: "Defoe to quit Spurs after rejecting new five-year deal" which I found rather confusing, because story 2 proclaimed: "Defoe: I'll fight for my place at Spurs".

So then Daily Mail, which is it?

Allow me to answer if I may - I tend to think it will be the latter. Defoe has said time and time again that he is not interested in going elsewhere. Apart from the lovely new house in the home counties that he has had custom designed and built, people forget that him and Darren Bent are actually great friends off the pitch.

If those 2 reasons sound a bit flimsy, then try these on:

• Spurs are quite clearly a club progressing


• Spurs have the best chance of Champions League football outside of the Big Four


• Spurs are in the UEFA Cup


• Spurs are likely to play upward of 60 games next season - more than enough to keep 4 strikers happy


• Spurs have a talented squad that have a good chance of winning some silverware


• Jol has made it clear that he wants Defoe to stay


• The board have offered him a contract


• Life at the Big Four will involve MORE bench warming that it would at Spurs


• Life at Portsmouth would involve battling for mid table


• Life at Aston Villa would involve moving to Birmingham (uurgh)


• West Ham hate him

So there you have it. Conclusive evidence, if any more were needed, that Defoe will in fact be playing for Tottenham next season.

Now let's move on...

Three's a Crowd

When Spurs sign a player they rarely seem to pluck them from nowhere ala Wenger and his Eduardo da Silva signing. Bale dragged on for 6 months or more, Benty was a back page favourite for weeks, and now we have finally completed the signing of Kaboul - which has rumbled on for even longer.

If you ask me, it seems a decent tactic. Keep the Press occupied with a long running transfer saga so you can discreetly conduct your other enquiries without too much hassle. However, with 2 months still to go before the window shuts, and a well documented need for a left sided player, there seems little doubt that within the next week or so we can expect the first episode in the next drama.

The signings we have made are, in my opinion, superb. I know many Yids have reservations about the need for Benty, but you can't argue that we now have 4 quality strikers, all of whom have a slightly different game. Of course £16.5m is a lot of dosh, but would you rather see it worm it's way into the shareholders pockets? Berbatov can't do it on his own, and as much as we would love to believe it, Keane and Defoe really can't play together.

Bent showed an impressive desire to play for the club and will be worth double the fee if he keeps developing the way he has, and proves to be the edge we need to nab 4th. Also, with Charlton accepting terms equivalent to a buy-now-pay-later deal we still have plenty of cash sloshing about - as proved by the £8m we have just thrown Auxerre's way.

I don't really know much about the French U21 captain, but if he is as hot a prospect as the evidence suggests then this is another outstanding signing. Call me a sucker for flattery, but I just love these players who demand that Spurs is the only club they want to move to. With Ledders' season likely to be... inconsistent, and Gardener and Rocha being well, inconsistent, I suspect that Kaboul will make a big difference.

Unlike Gardener, for me Rocha is actually a class player, good in the tackle and calm on the ball he also has the advantage of not being a "hoof it" merchant. I hope he has now settled in because this season will be make or break for him. I must say though, I think that Kaboul signals the end of Gardener's time at Spurs, he may have shown improvement toward the end of last season, but I won't be sorry to see him go.

Mido and Gardener are two players that always made my heart sink when I saw them on the teamsheet. The fact that both are more than likely on their way out is brilliant - the fact that they have been replaced by players of such quality is nothing short of miraculous!