Does anyone else hate International games as much as me? I can’t stand all these breaks to watch our useless national team embarrass us. At least the Croatia game holds a bit more interest for the Tottenham fan but I’d still rather our players were with our manager working towards Monday’s game against Aston Villa.

Everyone can remember the 4-4 thriller we had with them last year, I wouldn’t rule out more of the same. They did have a 0-0 at home to Liverpool last time but prior to that, Villa shipped three goals away to Stoke and two at home to Man City. They even let the builders and waiters of FH Hafnarfjordur score at Villa Park.

Looking at Spurs first three games, we have conceded five in total, including two at home to Sunderland. Ok, we no longer have Robbo to gift them a couple but I’d still be surprised if Villa don’t get on the scoresheet.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d happily take a scrappy 1-0 win via Zokora’s right shin but I can’t see anything other than goals in this game.

Lifted by our three new signings, I’m confident we can put on a good display, a winning display, and get our league challenge properly underway.

Let’s hope everyone comes back safe and sound from tomorrow’s matches and we can start looking forward to a thriller to rival last year’s corresponding fixture. All I ask is that the ball hit’s the back of our net one time less!

Like yesterday, these are just the players from my time supporting Spurs. I’m sure there are some shockers I’ve omitted from further back!

5. Dean Austin and Justin Edinburgh – I just couldn’t split them! For years we were stuck with these two at full back, it amazes me how many games the pair of them played. Every season I lived in hope they would be replaced but they just seemed to hang around forever!

4. Jose Dominguez – I never understood the thinking behind buying Dominguez. He had no end product, was tiny and had already been useless for Birmingham City. Not only that but we paid £1.6m for this Portuguese bandit.

3. Paolo Tramezzani – Any player bought by Christian Gross was not likely to survive. He only played 6 league games for us but what a pile of poo this bloke was. Couldn’t defend, tubby, stupid haircut. George Graham soon got shot of Paolo.

2. Stuart Nethercott – I’ve got a mate playing for Welling who told me about Nethercott’s pre-match ritual of throwing up then shouting ‘I’m a wounded animal, who’s a wounded animal with me?’ I can’t imagine Klinsmann reacting too well to those words of motivation back in the day, maybe Nicky Barmby found them useful.

1. Sergi Rebrov – This could be a controversial one with players like Dozzell, Sinton, Rosenthal and Kerlake missing out, but considering the player he was before he signed for Tottenham as well as the transfer fee involved, Rebrov has to be number one. He was an absolute superstar alongside Shevchenko at Dynamo Kiev and I can remember how excited I was when Spurs signed him. Talk about an anti climax!

That title is possibly a bit misleading because I’m not quite old enough to cover since 1882 but I’ll just go as far back as my memory will take me! I’ll be looking at about the last 20 years or so.

I was questioning yesterday whether Juande Ramos was happy with the performance of the Spurs hierarchy in the transfer market. Well it seems like he is judging by his interview with tottenhamhotspur.com

“I have little doubt that we have a squad of greater overall quality now than when I began at this club a year ago,” Ramos said.

“And by the end of the season our results will have proved this to be the case.

“I know there is much debate about our striker options, but I look at the whole picture and not just a like-for-like exchange.

“I want creativity and attacking flair from many parts of the pitch.”
He also had some positive things to say about the last minute capture of Campbell.

“Fraizer Campbell brings us pace, power and he’s a very good goalscorer

“He has a good workrate and is a handful for defenders, not for the same reasons as Roman, but because of his lightning pace.

“On top of that, he’s a natural goalscorer as we saw last season during his time on loan at Hull City. When you’ve got the ability, it gives you self-belief, and that’s what he’s got.”

I must admit, I am buoyed by him saying our results by the end of the season will prove our squad is better than last season. Does this mean Juande thinks we can better the Carling Cup win? Surely the only way to do this would be a UEFA Cup or FA Cup win, or a top 4 finish. Maybe he is just referring to last season’s league position but if we didn’t better that, I doubt Ramos would still be in a job.

After a couple of days to reflect on our actions in the transfer market since the start of the summer until the close of the transfer window, the question has to be asked; Were the powers that be just too timid in their actions?

We didn’t want to sell Robbie Keane, we sold Robbie Keane. We didn’t want to sell Dimitar Berbatov, we sold Dimitar Berbatov. We wanted to sign Andrei Arshavin, we signed Fraizer Campbell. I can see a pattern emerging here.

Liverpool pulled the same stroke with Gareth Barry as they did with Robbie Keane, the difference is Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa didn’t let Rafa have it so easy. As soon as Keane wanted out we rolled over. Ok, I do think it was a good deal for us from a money perspective but that isn’t the point.

Look at Sir Alex. You might not like him very much, but when Real Madrid came knocking with a blank cheque for the services of Christiano Ronaldo, they were told in no uncertain terms where to go. There was some back and forth for a couple of months but at the end of the day Ronaldo is still a Utd player. Dimitar Berbatov is too.

The longer we let the big four pick off our biggest and brightest stars, the longer our top 4 ambitions will take to come to fruition. It’s not just the fact we are losing these players, it’s the atmosphere it creates at the club. When you are able to keep your best players and add one or two each season, you cement the talent you already have and create competition for places. It feels like we have to start a fresh every season because our best players are allowed to go to the teams we are so desperate to emulate.

Ramos was likely promised the world by Daniel Levy to prise him away from Sevilla. He handed us the Carling Cup and some stability and credibility after the handling of Martin Jol. Levy and Comolli have taken his best players and were a few minutes short of giving back Carlton Cole, Emile Heskey and Kevin Doyle. Let’s hope Juande doesn’t become as disillusioned as I feel just now.

Gus Poyet was cut from 20/1 to 6/4 to become the next Newcastle United manager yesterday on the back of the rumours concerning Kevin Keegan having left the club.

The consensus today is that Keegan hasn’t gone anywhere yet but it doesn’t look like he’ll be sticking around for long.

We had this a while back when Gus was linked with Manchester Utd when they lost their assistant Carlos Queiroz to the Portuguese national side.

I realise the top job at the Toon would require some thought on Poyet’s part but then again, the way that club is run, even Dennis Wise in his ear might not be enough to convince him.

The No.2 job at Utd would have surely been just as attractive so I would hope if Gus didn’t take that job, he won’t be going to St James’ where he would likely just end up as Ashley and Co’s puppet.

There are a lot of if’s and but’s so I’m not going to get too concerned yet but Gus Poyet is a huge part of our club and for me, just as important as Ramos is going to be to our future. I hope Levy has the good sense to nip this situation in the bud before it gathers any momentum.

There was an interesting comment posted on this blog earlier;

‘top 4 and cl football is now near impossible by the way….now that the top 4 has become the top 5’.

The thought crossed my mind yesterday when I heard City were being bought out but it stopped crossing and just sat bang in my head once Berbatov and Robinho came into the picture.

It’s amazing how quickly things change in football. A couple of weeks ago when the Corluka drama was going on, we all thought Mark Hughes was in an awful position and would likely resign. Yesterday, he was on the golf course thinking about where to take Robinho and Berbatov for their welcome to Manchester party. Ok, Berbatov’s invite is now cancelled but never in a million years would he have expected to be naming Robson de Souza in his next game. Maybe our season can turn round in the same dramatic fashion?

I’m not sure I would want Spurs to have unlimited spending power. It must be nice to buy any player you want like Chelsea and now City can but there is something not quite right about it. The players we have brought in recently are probably still a bit above our level but not ridiculously so. For Man City to have signed someone of Robinho’s calibre, they must have broken some serious new ground where wages are concerned.

The top 4 is not very realistic for us this season with the start we have had anyway, even considering the signings over the last few days. The problem is, if City are going to be throwing their weight around in the transfer market come January as well as next summer, this year could be our best chance for a long time.

What do we think? I haven’t see much of him if I’m honest, watching Hull wasn’t high on my agenda last season.

I’ve had a look through some highlights and he has scored a number of good goals. I know he started for Utd against Newcastle and was involved in their pre season games so Ferguson must have rated him.

It’s only a loan deal for this season but I’d imagine that was because of everything being done last minute and is probably with a view to making the deal permanent.

So we had Berbatov, Keane, Defoe and Bent this time last year, now we have Pavlyuchenko, Campbell and Bent. A step backwards perhaps but hopefully we now have three strikers that want to play for the club and will give 110% week in week out.

We got good money for Berbatov. I’m a bit disappointed with didn’t bring in another player but I’m sure there will be more activity in January with all that cash in the kitty.

The biggest shock of the day comes in the shape of Berbatov going to Manchester City?!

I just don’t get it at all, he must be really desperate if he ends up there. They certainly won’t be in the Champions League anytime soon. I know things look more secure than they did under Shinawatra if the buy out actually goes through but it would still be a risky move for Berba.

Obviously it’s not a done deal yet, he will still need to agree terms etc but Hughes sounded quite confident.

Utd might well come in and match City’s offer in which case Berba will still end up at Old Trafford but if they have decided he’s too pricey the Andy Garcia lookalike will probably be taking a step down or at the very least sideways.

So Corluka’s finally done, he will be excellent cover for Ledley, may even play right back until Hutton is fit but I’ll miss Zakora if he does.

Others still in the pipeline are;

Veloso – He has to be the no.1 target, certainly a player I would love to see in a Spurs shirt.

Arshavin – Apparently not dead yet, not sure if I want us spending £20m or so on this guy but let’s see what happens.

Milito – Seems like we are not the only one after his services, would be a decent signing.

Fraizer Campbell – As part of the Berbatov deal from Man Utd. Very good player by all accounts, happy as long as we aren’t paying too much for his services.

Heskey, Larsson and Owen – The complete bullshine rumours!

I’ll try and update as and when anything happens.