***OMT - Spurs vs Liverpool***

[Spur of the moment]

Fazio, Stambouli and N'Jie are the definite flops, sadly. The jury's out on Sissoko, Janssen and N'kodou, and it should stay that way (ideally) until the start of next season. Davies, Trippier and Wimmer have been reasonably solid backups - Wimmer has been a good backup on the whole, although that's been a bit marred by his recent struggles. Son's been a good signing on the whole, alternating between starter and sub but growing into his role as the past two seasons have progressed. Vorm, Dele, Dier and Toby have been excellent signings, made for considerably excellent fees (that whole lot only cost about 25m on the whole).

About right I'd say. Don't think there's ever been a time when at least some of our signings haven't flopped - unless it was in the era of the Double when each and every big signing turned out to be a humdinger: Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, John White, Bill Brown and Les Allen (now there was a surprise). They were drafted into a squad that already included Danny Blanchflower, Maurice Norman and Bobby Smith and coincided with the emergence almost from nowhere of our own Ron Henry and Terry Dyson. Then after we'd won the Double we went out and bought Jimmy Greaves!

Wow. Hard to imagine we can ever hope to be that successful in the transfer market again.

Sigh.

 

[Rorschach]

Fazio, Stambouli and N'Jie are the definite flops, sadly. The jury's out on Sissoko, Janssen and N'kodou, and it should stay that way (ideally) until the start of next season. Davies, Trippier and Wimmer have been reasonably solid backups - Wimmer has been a good backup on the whole, although that's been a bit marred by his recent struggles. Son's been a good signing on the whole, alternating between starter and sub but growing into his role as the past two seasons have progressed. Vorm, Dele, Dier and Toby have been excellent signings, made for considerably excellent fees (that whole lot only cost about 25m on the whole).

A good summary.

I think with the exception of one recent outing versus someone I can't remember now all of N'Koudou's cameos have been ok to good. I am a little bit surprised he hasn't been used more.

And I haven't given up on the either Sissoko or Janssen yet, though I think Poch may come the transfer window if they don't improve. Janssen may be given more time considering his age but Sissoko will need to turn it up a notch and soon. He hasn't been awful, he's had a few decent matches, but neither has he nailed down a starting spot. I believe that both could improve their on field exploits with a bit of minor surgery to their games. Since Poch has arrived I've seen Dembele, Lamela, Rose and others step up a level by simply changing one weak point of their games, and both Janssen and Sissoko can do the same IMO.

 

[DubaiSpur]

A good summary.

I think with the exception of one recent outing versus someone I can't remember now all of N'Koudou's cameos have been ok to good. I am a little bit surprised he hasn't been used more.

And I haven't given up on the either Sissoko or Janssen yet, though I think Poch may come the transfer window if they don't improve. Janssen may be given more time considering his age but Sissoko will need to turn it up a notch and soon. He hasn't been awful, he's had a few decent matches, but neither has he nailed down a starting spot. I believe that both could improve their on field exploits with a bit of minor surgery to their games. Since Poch has arrived I've seen Dembele, Lamela, Rose and others step up a level by simply changing one weak point of their games, and both Janssen and Sissoko can do the same IMO.

I agree on all points. I'm not suggesting Janssen or Poch be forcibly retained if Poch wants them out - just that we shouldn't judge them based on their first seasons here.

As for Janssen and Sissoko improving their games...honestly, I feel like that's easier for Sissoko to accomplish than it is for Janssen right now. Sissoko could probably turn himself into a pretty good winger if he learned to release the ball a bit earlier and maraud into the box more than he currently does. Might get a few goals as well, which will help him gain confidence and acclimatize. But Janssen just looks slow - like he's running in treacle. He's pretty ace when he can back up against defenders, stick his arse out and hold on to the ball...but everything outside of that comes just a second or two too soon for him to successfully manage.

Out of the two, Janssen is the one who needs a more overall improvement in all facets of his game. But I suppose that's to be expected given that he only had one season in the Eredivisie prior to arriving here - this time two years ago, Janssen was playing against Eerste Divisie defenses for Almere City. Sissoko has his time at Saudi Sportswashing Machine to call upon, so it's only natural that he'd be better off in that regard.

 

[DubaiSpur]

About right I'd say. Don't think there's ever been a time when at least some of our signings haven't flopped - unless it was in the era of the Double when each and every big signing turned out to be a humdinger: Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, John White, Bill Brown and Les Allen (now there was a surprise). They were drafted into a squad that already included Danny Blanchflower, Maurice Norman and Bobby Smith and coincided with the emergence almost from nowhere of our own Ron Henry and Terry Dyson. Then after we'd won the Double we went out and bought Jimmy Greaves!

Wow. Hard to imagine we can ever hope to be that successful in the transfer market again.

Sigh.

I wish I could have been there to see it - it sounds incredible *now*, half a century on. What it must have felt like back then, I can only imagine.

Maybe when the new stadium's up and running, we can embark on that kind of era-building transfer business again. I mean, we already have some elements in place - we already have a good squad, and we have a few of our own coming through who are as good as anyone in the league on their day. All we need now are the next set of legendary double-winners, leaders and visionaries.

 

[parklane1]

About right I'd say. Don't think there's ever been a time when at least some of our signings haven't flopped - unless it was in the era of the Double when each and every big signing turned out to be a humdinger: Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, John White, Bill Brown and Les Allen (now there was a surprise). They were drafted into a squad that already included Danny Blanchflower, Maurice Norman and Bobby Smith and coincided with the emergence almost from nowhere of our own Ron Henry and Terry Dyson. Then after we'd won the Double we went out and bought Jimmy Greaves!

Wow. Hard to imagine we can ever hope to be that successful in the transfer market again.

Sigh.

Well as we all know all signings are a gamble and not all of them pay off, even in the years you have mentioned there was a couple. Who could forget Laurie Brown and John Smith.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Well as we all know all signings are a gamble and not all of them pay off, even in the years you have mentioned there was a couple. Who could forget Laurie Brown and John Smith.

I suppose I was mainly referring to the players Billy Nich brought in to complete what became the Double-winning side. True, John Smith arrived in 1960 but I think it's fair to say he was seen more as one for the future, albeit one who never made it. That said he was up against the likes of Blanchflower, Mackay and Marchi so it was always going to be difficult for him to get a look in. Laurie Brown of course arrived a few seasons later (1964) to replace the ageing Maurice Norman iirc.

So certainly over Billy Nich's first four or five seasons all his first-team-ready buys were absolute humdingers. As David Coleman was wont to say, remarkable!

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

Fazio, Stambouli and N'Jie are the definite flops, sadly. The jury's out on Sissoko, Janssen and N'kodou, and it should stay that way (ideally) until the start of next season. Davies, Trippier and Wimmer have been reasonably solid backups - Wimmer has been a good backup on the whole, although that's been a bit marred by his recent struggles. Son's been a good signing on the whole, alternating between starter and sub but growing into his role as the past two seasons have progressed. Vorm, Dele, Dier and Toby have been excellent signings, made for considerably excellent fees (that whole lot only cost about 25m on the whole).

A good summary Dubai. I would add that even though Fazio, Stambouli and N'Jie were flops, where we have moved them on we have sold for near enough the amount we paid or for a profit. So in terms of being a flop, it is not that their footballing ability was in question, but rather their fit into our team, our league and our tactics.

 

[parklane1]

I suppose I was mainly referring to the players Billy Nich brought in to complete what became the Double-winning side. True, John Smith arrived in 1960 but I think it's fair to say he was seen more as one for the future, albeit one who never made it. That said he was up against the likes of Blanchflower, Mackay and Marchi so it was always going to be difficult for him to get a look in. Laurie Brown of course arrived a few seasons later (1964) to replace the ageing Maurice Norman iirc.

So certainly over Billy Nich's first four or five seasons all his first-team-ready buys were absolute humdingers. As David Coleman was wont to say, remarkable!

I am not really disagreeing with you at all, however in Sir Bills time there were no subs so he really did not have to have a big squad. Not sure but i believe we only used 14/15 players during our double win, and a couple of them only played the odd game. Nowadays with squads of 20 plus players there is more chance of having to buy players so its obvious that the more you buy the more that could turn out not to be good ones.