Ashby Saint

But a lot of the internet chatter is one report that gets repeated several hundred times. It seems the original comment was something like. Q: "Would it be good if you could play along side your compatriot Jan Vertonghen (sp.)?" A: "Yes, it would be great." Cue all Spurs fans saying that they are the preferred destination.

But a lot of the internet chatter is one report that gets repeated several hundred times. It seems the original comment was something like. Q: "Would it be good if you could play along side your compatriot Jan Vertonghen (sp.)?" A: "Yes, it would be great." Cue although Spurs fans saying that they are the preferred destination.

Quick get him signed before Levy gets wind of it .... I'm a bit worried that our black-box is going orange lately. I thought the system was more important than the individual parts.

OK. How about pie sales? http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-manchester-united-arsenal-premier-4131517

Comedy gold.

I see that as a strength actually. It means that the club has a system and is sticking to it. When Koeman is lured out the door to another club, it means we'll have continuity.

I think the OP was actually referring to sabermetrics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabermetrics), which was embraced by baseball as described by the film Moneyball. In this respect, it does fit with the discussion of Shane Long if you measure a strikers contribution only in terms of goals scored. Sabermetrics looks at other statistics and looks at the mechanics of how a player fits within a system. Why buy a 20 goal a season play for £30 million when he could be replaced by three 7 goal a season players for less (that is the theory at least).

Agree with this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matt-Le-Tissier-Unbelievable-DVD/dp/B0002FR1AA

When we got promoted I thought Jos was more likely to settle in Prem than Jose. How totally wrong was I? Jos struggled. Jose has become the heart and soul of the defence and should have made PFA team.

I agree that it won't happen directly but full stadiums are part of the TV spectacle. If you take away all the cutaways of worried / elated fans then the viewing experience as a whole is lessened. Look at the NFL where broadcasting has been restricted to ensure that fans turn out for home games. Empty stadiums aren't fun for armchair fans.

Actually I still like Pelle. It's Tadic I don't like any more! ;-)

According to BBC reported Ian Dennis, Danny Ings has signed a pre contract agreement with Real Sociadad.

This!

Koeman made mistake with subs today. Bring Mane on, yes ok but replace Tadic not Reed. Reed was full of energy and keeping Shelvey shackled. Without the platform the gap between defence and forwards became a chasm. Shelvey exploited it and we lost.

Mane has been poor for a few games but not the only one. Ron seems to want to play them back into form but not sure it's working. We really seem to lack options from the bench.

+ve We are still third. Steven Davis is back. -ve Too many off-form - Pelle, Tadic, Mane all seem off the pace and not in synch. Schneiderlin picked up an injury.

TBF I quite like Brendan at the moment. Seems quite happy to pay us large amounts for players that we can replace for somewhat less. Nice source of income. It is Daniel Levy who I really dislike! Is there really a more fake and plastic club in professional sports than Tottenham Hotspurs?

TBF Liverpool really miss Sturridge and he played against us.

This seems a bit more positive http://outsideoftheboot.com/2014/08/27/analysing-ronald-koemans-start-to-life-in-the-premier-league-with-southampton/?

How about Andros says "his head is already at Southampton." Should get the deal moving.

Me too! However, it is clearly not all the club's fault. The way in which these players chased a top six transfer all summer has tempered my disappointment. Hopefully the next crop of youngsters will prove me wrong but I doubt it. Interesting that we are linked with young players from Leeds and Brighton - obviously looking to take English talent ourselves from a little higher up the food chain.

May be it is a better way to convince players to move from a bigger club to us because it is not permanent. It is lower risk for them. Certainly better than getting players in and promising them Champions League football when we have zero hope of achieving it.

Wages need to come out of this as well. These loaners are not playing for free.

I hope Morgan pays attention to that bit!!