Is our transfer policy really all good?

As we sit all plump eyed on a Monday, it is hard to look back on the weekend in any real positives. We have dropped out of the top four and rode our luck at times against a team who have a fairly average squad. What depresses me even more is that the two big money signings over the summer have been nothing short of disappointing. In a previous article I played havoc to Eriksen’s poor start but his case has been slightly let off due to the poor start Sissoko has given.

Trust me, I have had a long night to think what to write about my beloved Spurs at the start of a new week. I have tried to dissect positives since the international break and have only come up with these points:

-A clean sheet against Bournemouth,

-A point away to Leverkusen and West Brom;

– Kane is nearing his return.

These three dots were cleverly marked out on a paper napkin only to end up scrunched up in my kitchen bin. The point is that these checks are simply not article material. Instead, I have been forced to write a slightly negative article and I do hope Mr. Daniel Levy is reading this and making revision points somewhere in Barbados. I do somehow doubt this though. It may be that his I-phone 7 has run out of battery- or our old ‘pal’ Joe Lewis is treating him to a speed in his luxury yacht.

Levy has been heavily criticised over my short lifetime, but only recently has he been praised over the blind-bag capture of Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle and the war of words between Janssen’s former club AZ and eventually coming up trumps. At the time we were all buzzing with excitement because Spurs actually won a wild goose chase to a land France winger who had a distinctly good European campaign. Great.

It is important to remember that Sissoko came from a club that got relegated and was often dissed for only playing in front of the cameras. Rest assured, Tottenham have been on Sky and BT rather much over the past 2 months and I can’t say I’ve seen the Sissoko surge as of yet. Is it a bedding in period or just lack of playing opportunities? Nope, he started the majority of our Premier League games and was only demoted to the bench recently on the south coast. Many fans of his have said ‘he’s got speed’ and ‘he’s a power player’ but if you leave the ball behind in football that is simply irrelevant. ‘Give him time’ is the familiar quote I have been given by my friends but I hate to be negative; Sissoko is 27 and is probably past his peak.

I will go a little light weight on our Dutch striker Janssen. He has already been compared to the flop that was Soldado, but he his much younger and has a big chunk of playing days ahead of him. At 22, he has a lot to learn and a vast amount of maturing to do before he can be judged. The laughing stock of the Eredivisie has been proved by the constant domination of Ajax and Feyenoord, but at an age of development; he may not be quite be hitting the height just yet. A bit of Fergie Time will do him no harm.

A feature of our recent identity is the development of youth through our academy with players like Harry Kane, Ryan Mason, Harry Winks; Josh Onomah and Marcus Edwards all coming from the Tottenham grassroots.  This could be the reason why a few dodgy signings have come under the radar. Don’t get me wrong, there has been some very good signings in the Pochettino era- but in the last 5 years some very poor players have come and gone.

Here is a record of our main signings from 2012-14, and in my personal opinion I rate these signings on performances.

2012-13:

• Sigurdsson £8.5m 2012 Short spell but not given enough chances: Dury’s Out
• Jan Vertonghen £9.5m 2012 Very Good signing and core of defense: Hit
• Adebayor £5m 2012 One good spell,very poor elsewhere: Miss
• Dembele 2012 £15m 2012 Very good player vital to midfield: Hit
• Hugo Lloris £6m 2012 Bargain and our best GK since Robinson: Hit
• Lewis Holtby £1.5m 2013 Barely given a chance: Dury’s Out

2013-14:

• Paulinho £17m Poor and lacked passion: Miss
• Chadli £7m Good player and consistent: Hit
• Soldado £26m Never got going and complete waste of money: Miss
• Capoue £9m Never hit the heights and just so below par: Miss
• Chiriches £8.5m Poor and couldn’t handle the ball at his feet: Miss
• Eriksen £11.5m Had a very good first season but has struggled since: Dury’s Out
• Lamela £26.5m Divides opinion although he has improved since: Dury’s Out

When Daniel Levy puts his money where his mouth is, it is hard to understand why he spends hardball cash on players who do not perform and I think Pochettino is only picking up the pieces after a poor allotment of signings. He rid of all the dead wood and he is the man to take us forward into the new stadium.

But a look on the bright side, tomorrow we go to Anfield full of hope for a massive clash in the EFL cup round of 16.

#COYS