All Change For Tottenham

Well, it has certainly been an interesting week for Tottenham fans. I think I will have to break down and limit the length of my thoughts....

1) Keane off for £20m. Well, you have to say that is a decent amount of money and as has been previously proved, if a player wants to go, the odds are that he is off. Therefore overall this has to be seen as a situation well handled by Levy. As for Robbie himself the fans are split. I definitely cannot agree with some of the very aggressive comments on some fan sites stating that they would like to see him injured...there is definitely no call for that. He has given us goals, performances, effort and spent a large amount of time wagging his finger at referees. Overall he had finally won over some of his doubters in the last couple of seasons when partnered by Berbatov, but criticism that he missed too many chances and frequently lost the ball are not without basis. I like him, I had a Keane shirt on at Wembley in February and (to coin a cliche or two) he always gave 100% and liked to smile during the game. I wish him well but I just wish he hadn't given this quote after the cup final:

“I can’t see myself going anywhere or playing for anyone else now,” Keane told the London Evening Standard. “That is why I signed a long-term contract. I am more than happy here and I want to stay here for as long as I can. If I keep doing well and the club want me, then I am happy to stay here for the rest of my career.” (caveat: I am assuming this is real even though it is allegedly from the Evening Standard)

2. Bentley and the Russians. I have to say that I would prefer to see Lennon improving on the right wing but Bentley has some good skills. I think £8m would have been a fair price, but there you go. As for the Russians, I thought that this was more media manipulation by agents but it does seem that Arshavin really wants to come and be our 8th attacking midfielder....I can't wait for more Ossie analogies to appear in the press as the season starts....

3. A win over Celtic. Watched the match, standard friendly with a few stand-out points: Bale is quality, Zokora is not a right back, Bent can get goals if you play to his strengths, Dimitar still stamps his feet when his teammates aren't up to his standards, Modric had some nice touches, Benoit has been taking hair styling tips from Kevin The Prince, Ledley was on the pitch, Samaras appears to have taken to Scottish life by growing a beard....

I think that will do for now. I look forward to seeing if Capel, the Russians, a centre back and some kind of defensive minded midfielder will show up any time soon....