itchen

This time he's talking about Spurs but it all sounds familiar. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/15/tottenham-harry-redknapp-premier-league Harry Redknapp last night offered Tottenham Hotspur's shareholders and the club's chairman, Daniel Levy, a damning assessment of the squad he inherited from Juande Ramos and warned that a complete player overhaul will be required if Spurs are to challenge for a top-five finish. Tottenham's directors unveiled details of the club's proposed 60,000-capacity stadium at their annual general meeting yesterday and, while those plans were warmly received by those present, Redknapp made it clear that the club's short-term aims may be unobtainable given the weakness of the current squad. Spurs were bottom when the 61-year-old succeeded Ramos in October and, although they have since climbed to 15th, further upheaval is needed if they are to challenge for Champions League qualification. Redknapp appeared to surprise the board members on the top table when asked by the non-executive director Mervyn Davies to assess the squad in a brief question and answer session conducted in front of 200 shareholders. "It depends where you want to go and finish," said the manager. "If you're talking about finishing fifth or in the top four, it's well short of that. I'm not going to stand up here and lie to you. "So far we've got the best out of what we have here but the squad is still well short of the top four and not as good as Aston Villa's and other teams challenging to be up there. There's a lot of work to do if we are going to get where we want to be. I bet you wish you hadn't asked me that question now, don't you, Mervyn?" Levy had earlier stressed that he anticipated "no major transactions" for the club in the winter transfer window, saying the challenge was "to realise the full potential of our squad". Redknapp appears to accept that he may have to operate with loan deals at best next month given that potential targets such as Lassana Diarra, Matthew Upson, Jermain Defoe and Carlo Cudicini are unlikely to be available mid-season. However, it appears the Spurs hierarchy must brace themselves for a further significant outlay in the summer having spent some £78m last summer‚ albeit with £73.7m recouped in sales. "We want to build a team here that every*body's proud of," said Redknapp. "We need proper players and a proper team that can take us to where we want to go. Then I can bow out in a few years' time and leave you all with a team in the top four. As for this season, I think there will be 14 teams stuck in a possible relegation battle. Anybody could slip into it. You wonder where we'd be now if we hadn't had such a fantastic run. It doesn't bear thinking about. Everybody's scrapping for their lives and looking over their shoulders. I couldn't stand here and honestly say we're looking to get into Europe."

These desserters - are they in the pudding club?

TBF I go quite often and I'm still not sure who some of our players are.

Thanks for the original post and the other updates from people who were there. Any word from the mentioned London Saints gig? It's a pity the thread degenerated into the usual mudslinging as there are plenty of other threads to do that if that's what you want. It meant I have to wade through three pages of cr*p to pick out the useful reports of what actually happened.

I'll be there with my son and we'll be meeting my Charlton-supporting friends in the British Oak, Blackheath.

Good grief! Keep winding, you've reeled in a few.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/24/championship-reading

Well no. It will count for three points that we didn't really expect to get. But I agree 6 would be better and 9 if we can beat Charlton too will be better still.

Put him on ignore. I have and it makes this forum a much more enjoyable experience. It would be even better if people stopped quoting him. He's an attention seeker and I regret giving him that little bit more with this post.

Are we back to the anyone but Lowe stage? I mean, that worked so well before...

I think our young players did very well just to get on with the game despite severe provocation from the man in black.

Really? I didn't hear them in the Northam. Where were you sitting?

I thought we did pretty well. I didn't see why Euell was sent off. TBF the ref was closer than I was so I assume he saw something. But I can't see how he saw that but failed to see we should have had a penalty. I think the score was a fair description of the game. Wolves probably just deserved a win but I thought we did really well not to concede more than two and if Bradley's shot had gone in instead of rebounding off the inside of the post it would have been a different story. I think Kelvin was busier than their keeper so I can't really complain about losing. But I thought we played well and just lacked that final touch in front of goal (again). If we can do that against the league leaders (though I can't see them staying there) then we'll be OK.

I don't know an awful lot about stock exchange requirements, bankruptcy, company accounting and so on, so I don't tend to post on these threads. It doesn't seem to stop a lot of other people with a similar level of knowledge though.

The knob on my radio simply allows me to switch it on and off. I envy you yours.

Wow. Just logging on before bed. I had no idea. I stopped listening at half-time (and I'm usually one of the optimists). Terrific. Well done Jan and the team.

A petition eh? I bet Rupert's clearing his desk right now. Has anyone asked Leon Crouch whether he wants to come back BTW?

I don't disagree. Although he made the same mistakes as Lowe did in their relegation season. First, Curbishley left because he couldn't take the club any further (shades of Strachan). He appointed someone from the hated rivals (Dowie, shades of Redknapp) then he replaced him with someone from the backroom staff (shades of Wigley). I grant you he seems to keep a lower profile than Lowe (although I don't live in South East London anymore and so don't see the local press).

I'm not sure what you mean about getting out more. But I quite often to talk to supporters of the club nearest Plumstead who, if the scores say the same as they are at the moment, will move below us tonight. They are not blaming their chairman for their poor season.

McGoldrick. We all knew he'd do it. Didn't we?

I wouldn't necessarily take Solent's word for anything; it's not as though Merrington hasn't got an agenda is it? But, assuming Lowe did go in, we don't know what he said. Could well have been "Good luck lads" (or 'chaps' more likely) "do your best". I think lots of old school chairmen used to do that. Of course he might have said "You sit down Jan while I outline the tactics." But I doubt it. The Lowe obsession on this board is really a bit sad.

Can't see Saints keeping a clean sheet but, ever the optimist, Saints to win 3-2.

Just received this from Charlton supporting friend (who's on their newsletter list). Looks like they are going to join us on the mill of endless rumours.

I stayed away from this forum after the Watford game because I thought the comments would be sadly predictable. Having got round to reading the whole of this thread this morning it's clear I was right with most posters expecting a heavy loss at Sheffield Utd. Well of course that didn't happen. But all this proves is that Saints are completely unpredictable (unlike some posters) and are capable of beating anyone or losing by 3 or 4 goals. Personally, I can't see the point of winding myself up into a frenzy of despair as we build up to a game ("we're going to get spanked 3-0 tonight"). I hope we'll win, realise we might not and then either go and watch or listen to the radio to find out what actually happens. I'm pretty sure that keeps me happier. We have a young team who will sometimes astonish us by their brilliance and sometimes shock us by their naivity and ineptness. It's still lots more fun than last season.

'appy 'arry said on the TV tonight that he was keen to sign him if Milan don't. I can imagine he'd be dead impressed by Pompey's state-of-the-art training facilities. And Posh would be well happy at Gunwharf Quays.