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For probably the first time since the first game following Harry Redknapp replacing Juande Ramos, the reserve side was heavily staffed with first teamers. Although, in terms of age and Premier League appearances, it should probably be noted that this wasn't quite as experienced a team it may have appeared to be at first glance. Spurs lined up with a flat 4-4-2. Giovani Dos Santos and FA Youth Cup hero Andros Townsend took the wide midfield positions, with Adel Taarabt up front alongside Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell. Jake Livermore continued his rehabilitation from injury in central midfield, next to captain Jamie O’Hara. The other standout player from the FAYC game against Arsenal, Steven Caulker, started alongside Ricardo Rocha in defence.

From the early stages, it was apparent that Spurs weren’t going to dominate the game in the way that the nominally strong line up may have suggested they would. Fulham are no slouches at this level, and were organised, motivated, and had the game’s best player in Giles Barnes, who scored an excellent free kick to double the lead taken when Chris Gunter’s poor back pass found Alnwick typically slow to react, resulting in the concession of a penalty, duly converted.

Throughout, Spurs struggled to put any sustained pressure on the Fulham defence. There was little penetration on either flank, aside from some decent work by Townsend in the first half, and Taarabt’s tendency to overcomplicate, and Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell’s appalling inability to control a ball, limited opportunities to progress through the middle. Fulham added a third in injury time to round things off.

All in all, a dire performance collectively, and in most individual cases as well.


The Players

Defensively, only Caulker emerged with any credit. He was, as usual, dominant in the air on straight balls from deep, and had few problems generally, given his lack of experience at this level. At times, understandably, you can see that he's still learning the game, particualrly in terms of where he needs to be positionally at any given time.

Alnwick provided further evidence of why he’s miles away from being Premier League standard - slow to react, poor kicking, suspect handling, and so on - and both Bale and Gunter were very poor at full back. Gunter’s poor passing cost two goals, and Bale looked lost going forward, and unable to execute the few bright ideas that he did have. Defensively, he looked shaky as well, as I think he tends to at left back generally. Rocha also struggled, despite Fulham not being particularly physically aggressive in attack.

Both Livermore and Danny Rose, who replaced him on the hour, are coming back from long term injuries, so can be excused some lack of sharpness. Rose, for his part, at least showed some desire to win the ball centrally. O’Hara, alongside them, was Spurs’ best player, but even he managed to go from the sublime to the ridiculous in his distribution. Unlike some of his first team colleagues, he at least had the right attitude, and recognised this as an opportunity to impress the watching first team coaching staff.

Dos Santos looked lost, for the most part, though did manage a couple of mazy, head-down runs. I’m still not entirely sure how great the level of talent he has is. He certainly doesn’t seem particularly aware of his team mates, and falls behind even someone relatively inexperienced like Townsend, in that regard, I would say. Townsend himself did well for periods of the game, particularly first half. Those who have seen more of him than last Thursday’s man of the match performance, will have recognised this as being more in line with a typical performance of his though - occasional bright spots, interspersed with long periods of being peripheral. Some of this is down to the type of player he is, being an old school winger who requires decent service, but I think he also has to learn that he needs to seek and demand the ball more as well, either by communicating with his team mates, or by the runs and positions he takes.

Taarabt had another of those games to forget, and his performance was very much in line with his performances at this level all season. Once again trying too hard, overcomplicating in situations that clearly don’t require it, and slowing play down generally. As usual though, he still managed a few moments of quality amongst the madness, including one excellent through ball over the top of the last man.

Obika and Mason both came off the bench and did no harm to their claims for further chances at this level. Obika struggled for service, with such a lack of ideas from midfield behind him, but did show a few signs of his ever improving confidence with the ball at his feet, be that picking a pull back pass to the edge of the area from out wide, or using a bit of skill to create space for a shot inside the box. Mason’s passing immediately caught the eye when he entered proceedings to play wide right in midfield. Two or three excellent switches of play to the left flank, and displaying obvious comfort with the ball at his feet.

Finally, a few words on Manchester United’s Fraizer Campbell. A player, let’s not forget, denying the likes of Mason and Obika the chance to gain more experience at this, and higher, levels. Actually no, I’m not going to put any more effort into describing his performance, than he himself put into it. I guess we can at least take comfort from the evidence before us that our own academy is now managing to produce players that are technically light years ahead of at least one example from United’s much vaunted set up.


The Ratings

Alnwick - 53% - Makes even routine saves look like hard work.
Gunter - 41% - Lapses in concentration, which were unfortunately punished.
Caulker - 67% - Looked pretty comfortable at this level.
Rocha - 51% - Struggled with his direct opponents both aerially and on the deck.
Bale - 44% - Poor passing and poor defensively.
Dos Santos - 57% - Couple of decent runs, but mainly a peripheral figure.
Livermore - 58% - Looked off the pace for the most part, understandably.
O’Hara - 72% - Hit and miss distribution, but application and attitude was right.
Townsend - 64% - Decent first half, but faded and needs to seek the ball more.
Taarabt - 54% - Same old story, overcomplicating and slowing play down.
Campbell - 34% - Awful player, playing awfully, with virtually zero commitment

Obika - 62% - Virtually no service, but did some decent things with what scraps he got.
Rose - 60% - Passing was sloppy, but added some bite centrally.
Mason - 65% - His accurate passing and awareness made him stand out like a sore thumb in this company.

The Game

 

Spurs lined up with Jonathan Obika up front on his own, with Bostock playing ahead of a four man midfield to provide support to him. Yaser Kasim anchored midfield along side Dean Parrett, who captained the side. Andros Townsend and Paul-Jose Mpuku took up the wide midfield spots, and both held their starting positions as Spurs looked to expand the area of play to aid a quick tempo, possession game. Most attacks were focused down the left flank, with Townsend seeing a lot of the ball throughout.

 

In the opening stages, it looked like Charlton may be overwhelmed, much as Sheffield United had been in the previous round, but to their credit, by the midway point of the first half they had steadied themselves, reorganised, and were looking difficult to break down. Despite Spurs dominating possession, it looked like something special would be needed to break their resilience, and Bostock duly provided it with a stunning long range drive that flew into the top right corner of the goal, drawing applause from virtually everyone in attendance.

 

Bostock’s second was less spectacular, but still of impressive quality. His shot from the edge of the area nestling in the bottom corner pretty much ended the tie as a contest, and the game played out with Spurs looking an increasing threat on the counter when Charlton did manage to construct an attack. Obika sealed the victory with the third goal from Parrett’s through pass and the game played out with Kasim looking to exploit the pace of Townsend and Mpuku (then Kudus Oyengua who replaced him) on the break with, early balls into the channels.

 

Once again, I have to praise Alex Inglethorpe. For all the talent that this group of players may have individually, it’s no accident for them collectively to play the way they do. They are very well organised, with each player clearly well drilled in what is expected of him both with and without the ball. Inglethorpe’s team play football precisely how, I’m sure, every Spurs fan would hope to see a side play. There are no long, hopeful balls from back to front – this side play with the ball on the ground, alternating between quick, pass and move, football to penetrate, and slower possession play to grind the opposition down –  the team is set up to be balanced, to attack and to dominate. Inglethorpe's team arguably play a better brand of football than any first team manager at Spurs has achieved since Glenn Hoddle's stint (and unlike the karmic one, it's proving successful), and you can't help but wonder what he'd achieve in a higher position.

 

The Players

 

Bostock, understandably, will grab the headlines. Both goals were well taken, the first a superb strike. Generally though, it was a fairly quiet performance from him. It’s quite hard to judge his potential in this context, because it’s quite clear that he’s beyond this level of football now – the combination of his physical and technical qualities mean it’s virtually impossible for opponents to contain him, and consequently they don’t provide a very useful barometer for his development. I do think he needs to impose himself more on games, but having said that, it’s pretty obvious that this boy is going to make it, somewhere and somehow, barring something extremely unfortunate.

 

Almost equally impressive was Kasim. Technically, I’d say he’s as good as any other player in the side – first touch passing off either foot, long range passing off either foot, ability on the ball (including one outrageous piece of showboating from a short corner near the end) – and is always calm and aware when he receives the ball. His head is invariably up, assessing what is around him, which always impresses me in a young player, and he tends to see things very early. He also gets stuck in and works hard to win the ball back, which is encouraging as the defensive side of his game is, along with maybe his mobility, one of the few things that would concern me about him.

 

On the whole though, I continue to be very impressed with him. He improved as the game went on, and really came into his own as Charlton made one final push in the closing period, pinging some exquisite long range angled through balls to the flanks, and one beautifully weighted pass inside the left back to put Oyenuga one on one with the keeper.

 

Alongside him, in central midfield, Parrett had a strong first half, and looked comfortable throughout in a central role. He was probably the liveliest Spurs player in the first half, breaking forward with the ball at his feet on several occasions. As the game went on, with Kasim collecting the ball in deep areas, and Bostock tending to dominate proceedings the final third, Parrett saw less of the ball, but still, it was a good, disciplined performance from the captain, culminating in a cute pass to set up Obika for the third goal.

 

On the left flank, Townsend reminds me of Aaron Lennon – you’re not always sure what you’re going to get in terms of the quality of his end product, yet he is a constant threat to the opposition. Townsend is quick, skilful and direct, and if he can refine his game, and avoid overcomplicating, he seems pretty well equiped to progress to the next level.

 

The youngest player in the starting eleven, Mpuku, had a relatively quiet game on the right of midfield. When he did see the ball though, he did look good – strong, quick and technically good (like a lot of players in this group to be honest, which is one of the things that makes them exciting). Very early days for him, but I would say he has something about him, even if it’s a bit too soon to say precisely what.

 

Of the rest, it almost goes without saying that Adam Smith was impressive at right back. Going forward, he’s excellent, most notably in the variation he shows in his attacking play. He can run with the ball on the outside or come inside and take it into central areas; will look to get to the byline and cross, but is equally likely to mix it up, pass and move and push up into the box. Defensively, he wasn’t really troubled, and that’s the side of his game I’m eager to see more of, because if it is anything like the attacking side, he’s a real prospect.

 

Jansson in goal looked good – always tries to catch, and is quick off his line. The problem for him is that playing in a team as good as this one, he doesn’t have a great deal to do. It will be interesting to see where they see him fitting in over the next twelve months, given that he’s already been involved with the first team.

 

The only real negative from the night was that the centre back pair, Butcher and Caulker, looked a little nervy at times, much more so than in the previous round, and Charlton nearly capitalised on a couple of occasions. Other than that, it was all very encouraging, and I'd say this team have a good chance of going far in this competition.

 

The Ratings

 

Jansson – 75% - Assured and proactive when called upon.

Smith – 78% - Always lively going forward, and had few troubles defensively.

Butcher – 63% - Suffered a few lapses, but was generally able to recover the situation.

Caulker – 60% - Struggled with the ball at his feet at times.

Cox – 64% - Hard working, but playing on the left restricts his attacking involvement to some extent.

Mpuku – 73% - A marginal figure, but looked good when he was involved.

Kasim – 81% - Class and composure on the ball and a decent defensive shift.

Parrett – 77% - Very good first half, driving forward from central midfield.

Townsend – 80% Always looked a threat, even if he over complicated things at times.

Bostock – 84% - Two excellent goals and opponents clearly struggle to handle him at this level.

Obika – 68% - Did OK in a role that required him to be quite selfless for the sake of the team.

The Game

 

It was a bitterly cold evening, and a performance from the Spurs side that was similarly lacking in appeal. Once again, Clive Allen had an experienced squad at his disposal, and chose to configure the side much as he did last time out - Adel Taarabt, Charlie Daniels and Kyle Fraser-Allen interchanging as a front three, Hossam Ghaly and Kevin-Prince Boateng behind them in midfield either side of a holding player, in this case Kieran McKenna. Dorian Dervite captained as usual, although it was former Northern Ireland U-21 captain McKenna who was most vocal.

 

Stoke’s clear desire, much like their first team, to frustrate through good organisation and go direct in possession, along with Spurs’ disjointed attacking endeavours, made for a poor game, which was not aided by a poor refereeing performance. Clive Allen was eventually sent from the bench by the referee as his frustration at several poor decisions grew, but Allen himself must take some blame for his side’s performance in attempting to match Stoke at their own physical game, rather than using his own side’s superior passing ability to strike an advantage.

 

Although he did seek to switch emphasis at half time – Dervite and Gilberto were removed, the former presumably because of injury and the latter presumably because he was appalling, with Mtandari switching to centreback and Danny Hutchins coming in at right back, Daniels reverting to left back and Jacques Maghoma on to sit alongside McKenna in midfield - by that point Stoke had already gained a goal advantage following some poor defending at the far post by Mtandari from a crossed ball. As Stoke galvanised their soak-up-pressure/break-directly approach, Spurs could not achieve much meaningful penetration, despite having shifted to a more flank based attacking style, with both fullbacks Hutchins and Berchiche (who replaced McKenna near the hour mark) providing far better overlapping options than either of their first half counterparts.

 

Once a poor pass in his own defensive third from Boateng, followed by a sluggish reaction from Mtandari, had gifted Stoke their second, it was all over. The only kind of threat posed by Spurs for the remainder, as heads dropped, was set pieces, from which delivery had been poor all evening.

 

 

The Players

 

Last time out, Boateng had been the best Spurs player on show, and the early signs were that it would be a similar story this time. In the first half, he again posed some physical problems for the opposition defence and made several cute passes out wide in advanced areas to release the front three. However, his influence waned as the second half progressed, at times trying to over complicate things, but more worryingly getting increasingly involved in fracas with Stoke players. There we a couple of off the ball incidents, and on several occasions he left his foot in or followed through on challenges. Thankfully, the referee was incompetent enough to miss most of them, or Boateng would surely have seen a red, rather than the single yellow, card. At times it’s hard to tell with Boateng whether he really is that close to the edge of losing it, or whether it’s all about gamesmanship and calculated attempts to wind opponents up, disrupt their concentration and bait them into being carded. Either way, given the fine line he currently walks in terms of a future at the club, he’d probably be advised to alter his approach: a red card, even at this level, would almost certainly bring his career at the club to an end, one suspects.

 

Another player not unfamiliar with controversy, Ghaly, was one of the few positives to be taken from the evening. Again, a disciplined performance in a central role, but this time he displayed more of the creativity that had marked his return a couple of games ago. He linked well with his team mates in the final third, and most of his passing, including the more ambitious attempts, came off. Once again, I would say that there is no reason why Ghaly shouldn’t be in consideration for the first team on the merits of his ability alone, but whether that is actually an option, given the previous policy of excluding him, remains a doubt.

 

Another plus point would be Danny Hutchins, who again showed promise, this time when brought into the fray as right back at half time. Indeed, in his first action of the game, he managed to contribute more in attacking terms than Mtandari had for the entire first half - advancing and cutting inside from the flank to thread a smart through ball into the channel. He continued to provide a good overlapping outlet throughout the game, and also defended reasonably well. He appears comfortable with the ball at either foot, plays with his head up and shows a good understanding of the game for a 19 year old. I think his future probably lies in central midfield, rather than full back, but at this point it is important that he’s playing, and his versatility will aid in that.

 

The negative points have to begin with Gilberto, who is fast proving himself incapable at reserve level, never mind Premier League level. It bewilders me that, unless he has declined rapidly over the past year or so as age catches up with him, he has been anywhere near any national team in recent times, never mind one as prestigious as Brazil’s. In fact, he’s probably one of the least technically accomplished Brazilians I can remember coming across (and by that I mean Brazilians per se, not just Brazilian footballers). On this occasion, he was poor on the ball, and appeared to have no idea where and when he should be going forward and providing support. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team, despite our current lack of quality in that position. It’s a shame because he seems like a nice enough guy, who has boldly uprooted to a new country for one last challenge, and I particularly like the fact that he always looks like he is struggling with constipation in photographs, but unfortunately he also plays football as if troubled by a similar problem.

 

No reserve report these days would be complete without some mention of the Taarabt conundrum. On this occasion, he was slightly better than he has been for a while, for the most part solely because some of the tricks and manoeuvres he attempted actually came off (though still with virtually nothing by way of final product). His tendency to completely destroy any attack by hanging onto the ball regardless of the circumstances, location on the pitch or actions of his team mates around him was still evident though. Despite having a decent arsenal of tricks in his locker, he quickly becomes entirely predictable for opponents, and most these days are dealing with him comfortably. He has quite clearly gone backwards in terms of knowing when to release the ball, to the point where it now only happens when he's explored every available blind alley and has no remaining option. Having said all that, he’s probably not being helped by having a coach who clearly doesn’t know how, or indeed where, to use him.

 

Another player who will probably be of interest given recent events at first team level is goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, returning from loan to start here. Whilst it’s worth noting that he did all the 'keeping basics well enough, it also has to be said that he’s not much of a commanding presence, and his distribution was routinely awful – virtually all of his kicking failed to get anywhere near its intended target, and most of the time he was choosing the wrong target anyway. I doubt he will provide an answer at first team level, although in fairness, he doesn’t look any less likely to do so than Cesar Sanchez.

 

The final player worthy of a mention is McKenna, particularly since the official channels have given him a glowing report for his performance. He certainly put in a good shift, but although he reads the game quite well, he lacks a certain degree of quality on arriving into those defensive situations that he is trying to resolve, and that, I suspect, is ultimately why he is probably heading for no more than a departure to a lower league club. His defensive awareness is also cancelled out somewhat by his lack of understanding of options ahead of him, and most of his passing was unnecessarily negative, at a time when the team desperately needed to exert its authority in that regard over their opponents.

 

 

The Ratings

 

Alnwick – 64% - His handling was good, but he isn't really a great presence and his distribution is woeful.

Mtandari – 41% - Awful performance in both positions. At fault for both goals and offered nothing in attack from right back.

Dervite – 55% - Had few problems due to Stoke’s direct style and the fact that dealing with aerial balls/physical strikers is the strongest part of his game.

Rocha – 67% - Similarly, coped manfully with Stoke’s gameplan, despite not having the advantage of Dervite’s physical characteristics.

Gilberto – 44% - Poor on the ball, poor going forward. Looks like he doesn’t know what he, or his team mates are doing most of the time.

Ghaly – 74% - The closest Spurs had to someone dictating the game, most of his passing and decision making was good, particularly in the final third.

McKenna – 72% - Generally a good, disciplined game, though his passing is very negative and unimaginative.

Boateng – 61% - Started well, then got progressively worse, and was getting closer and closer to being sent off.

Fraser-Allen – 63% - Posed zero threat out wide, but once again put in a spirited performance when alone up front.

Daniels – 54% - His final delivery from wide areas was poor tonight, and that is really the only thing he potentially brings to the team.

Taarabt – 59% - Slight improvement on previous games, but he is still doing as much harm as good in terms of the team’s attacking play

The Game

 

Second home game of the season for the reserves, and I know first team coaches Gus Poyet and Hans Leitert were both in attendance, as I passed them on the stairs on the way in (Hans courteously held the door open for me as well, so brownie points for him). The much maligned Damien Comolli was also watching, but I didn’t see Ramos.

 

With a couple of older players who had been absent through season long loan and injury, in Daniels and McKenna respectively, returning and three ‘senior’ players in the starting line up, Spurs suddenly looked quite an old side for this kind of fixture. Portsmouth were the opposition and, some fringe first teamers such as Traore, Little and Jerome Thomas aside, looked disjointed and lacking in quality. Their team was presumably made up largely of younger players, and that disparity in experience and quality between the two sides certainly told, as Portsmouth were rarely in the game, despite the final score not reflecting Spurs' dominance.

 

Overall, this is the best I’ve seen the reserves play for some time. They looked organised, motivated, and played some decent stuff at times. It’s amazing what a few experienced heads can do to a side like this, and is precisely why I keep advocating senior players not getting first team minutes being part of this group. Someone like Adam Smith is going to benefit immensely from having a goalkeeper of Cesar Sanchez’ experience instructing him, for example.

 

Spurs lined up in what was essentially a 4-2-3-1, with Taarabt, somewhat nonsensically, as sole striker. Maghoma and McKenna anchored midfield (Danny Hutchins, impressive in that role so far this season, was there but not in the eleven or named as sub), with David Hutton and Charlie Daniels on either flank, and Hossam ‘back from the dead’ Ghaly given a relatively free role to drop into midfield or support Taarabt. Dervite was captain.

 

Spurs dominated the first half entirely, though the lack of a proper striker hampered them greatly. The first goal came from a good strike from Daniels, teed up by Taarabt from a freekick, and the second from some good interplay between Ghaly and Taarabt, resulting in a speculative shot (one of many) from Taarabt.

 

Daniels managed to undo his contribution of the opening goal by failing to track his man to allow Portsmouth to equalise, and in the second half, Portsmouth managed to nick the two goals that gave them the win through some poor defending, where first Sanchez and then Rocha were exposed as the only line of defence. This was despite the visitors failing to look a genuine threat throughout.

 

The Players

 

There’s only one place to start, and that is with the player I, and I’m sure everyone else, assumed would never be seen in a Spurs shirt ever again – Hossam Ghaly. To put it succinctly, Ghaly was a class above everyone else on the pitch. His work rate was superb. In the first half, he was everywhere, making himself an option for the pass virtually every time a Spurs player had the ball, threw himself into tackles and made intelligent contributions defensively, and looked by far the player most likely to create chances via an incisive through ball or interplay in advanced areas. For the closing stages of the first half, and the whole of the second, Clive Allen instructed him to play up alongside Taarabt, and he continued to make a good contribution from that position – linking well with Taarabt, for the most part, and playing some decent angled through balls to the right to put in Hutton and Smith on several occasions.

 

This of course is a player coming back from injury, who hasn’t played first team football for months, and playing in the stiffs for a club who has shunned him since a moment of petulance brought on by idiotic elements in the crowd. For him to come out and show the effort and enthusiasm he did (this also goes into things like trying to instruct and encourage Taarabt and his other team mates) deserves massive respect, in my opinion. His awareness of players around him, and of tactical requirements in any given situation, was far in advance of any other player on the park, as you’d hope from a Premier League player, and make no mistake, that is what Ghaly is. Anyone who suggests he’s “Championship at best”, “a donkey”, “liability” and so forth, is simply wrong.

 

He should be back in the first team squad. It’s as simple as that. He has several things that we really lack at the moment, not least some balls, aggression and ability to put in a tackle in central midfield, and the confidence and ability to create in the final third.

 

Anyway, sermon over…on to the rest.

 

So Taarabt….the guy is an enigma, and right now, I’d be willing to place a substantial amount of money on him not making it; at least, not at Spurs. His body language says he doesn’t want to be at this club, and Clive Allen seems to take some delight in giving him stick from the sidelines, some of it may be deserved, but it’s pretty clear that this isn’t the coach that is going to take what talent Taarabt does have and convert him into a footballer.

 

As a lone striker, particularly in the first half, he was hopeless. Failing to retain the ball as it was played into, not by over elaborating, but just by poor first touch and anticipation. He did look better when Alex Olsen came on up front and he dropped into a deeper role, and some of his linking with Ghaly did show promise, but he’s so far from having the tactical understanding to match the talent that it’s easy to see why he’s still so far from getting a first team game.

 

Adam Smith was the youngest player in the starting eleven, and despite a few lax moments defensively, had a good game. He linked well with Hutton on the right flank and, once he’s bulked up a bit, could possibly be regarded as prospect for good things.

 

Hutton, as per usual, was a good attacking outlet. His crossing (and general technical ability, as I keep saying) is very good. That didn’t really tell tonight because there was no real target in the box with Taarabt as point man, but Hutton remains one of the few players in this group that you can rely on to consistently beat his man and produce a decent final ball. As I said, he linked well with Smith and the right flank always looked an outlet, in contrast to Hughton and Daniels on the left who failed to show any understanding or consistent threat.

 

A final mention for Sanchez and Rocha, as the other senior players on show. Both sought to provide assistance and leadership to the younger players around them, and whilst neither may have much contribution to make at first team level this season, they could prove very important in the development of what talent we do have at reserve level.

 

The Ratings

 
Sanchez – 66% - Didn’t have a great deal to do, was unlucky with the second goal having made two good stops
Smith – 73% - Looks quite assured at this level
Dervite – 62% - Struggled at times and wasn’t commanding enough
Rocha – 66% - Commits himself too early at times, but looks to be having a positive effect in this group
Hughton – 57% - OK defensively, but no offensive contribution whatsoever
Hutton – 74% - Always looks a threat, but no takers for the service he provides in this kind of system
McKenna – 55% - Reasonably disciplined but lacks quality in the tackle and with the ball at his feet
Maghoma – 67% - I’m not a fan, but he did quite well and got through a decent amount of work box to box
Daniels – 61% - Nice goal, but has the physique of a rugby player and plays football like one
Ghaly – 78% - Impressive attitude, work rate and overall contribution
Taarabt – 68% - Still a work in progress, and sadly it seems like work that only has a chance of being completed at another club