I have left it a few days before committing hands to keyboard so to speak as I didn’t want anything I said in my blog to seem like a knee jerk reaction to a very disappointing result against Manchester City.
For the last two seasons we have not only competed with our richer rivals but actually surpassed them in terms of performances in the league. This has been fantastic and expectations from all of us involved with the club from the directors/board, to the management team, the players and us the fans.
Sadly that has meant the hard and horrid reality of this season has actually hit even harder. The cold truth about football is that money talks. Loyalty, love of club and the fans etc are now long forgotten concepts. For the last two years we have been in this great place, even in defeat our players would be vocal about being together and moving forward and then we had the summer of 2017…
The move to Wembley and the new stadium construction caused no end of logictical problems for the club and from board level down to every day staff it was a state of flux and it meant with the season coming into sharp view we as a club were terribly behind in our preparations.
With regards to the team however Kyle Walker demanding a move was the first issue. As revealed in a recent tell all book on last season Walker, during the title race, demanded his move and in effect switched off from that point on. His agent advised Kyle it was time to move as he would more than double his money, which he has at Man City.
As the summer rolled on the next issue was Danny Rose deciding rather than asking for a move, like Kyle did, he would take the more public route out of the club and go direct to the press. He slammed the chairman, the manager, the club as a whole and although many fans shared his views it still strikes me odd how many are deluded enough to think he is actually still happy at the club.
Rose gave that interview with one goal in mind, to force a move. If the club had been willing to deal with Chelsea he would have been sold for £50m in the summer – however we don’t deal with Chelsea. Remember his interview all about moving back up north, yeah he tried to move to Chelsea, don’t forget that.
Pochettino made the decision as he returned to fitness that he would pick him and play him however what was said and the damage that was done behind the scenes appears cannot be undone.
Another player who wanted to leave in the summer was Eric Dier, who was keen to link up with Jose Mourinho and join Manchester United. Due to Eric’s more professional attitude however he did not go to the press, he was told by Poch he was not leaving and the player stayed and has played in every game in various positions and roles.
So, to recap this summer we saw Kyle leave opening up the debate amongst the players over wages – Eric Dier asked to leave, we know how close he is with Dele – and Rose gave that interview slamming the club and saying he and his team mates all know they are under paid.
Is it any wonder we have not played that well this season? Why we don’t look the same team 90% of the time? Simply put, behind the scenes the squad has gone from #Together to #WhenCanWeLeave and as a fan its actually gotten me kinda depressed.
In the summer we did do some transfer business though and made one hell of a signing. Our new club record signing is the 21 year old Colombian central defender Davinson Sanchez and he has been a beast for us. (yes a few lapses, but he is 21 playing his first season in England, we can all afford him some learning time).
The difference between us and our rivals however is where as we signed Sanchez, others signed four or five players of that quality. Simply because they can (a) afford too and (b) afford to pay the wages.
Assuming I have not depressed you all so much you stopped reading I will wrap this up now and try my very best to end on a positive note. I believe we are a small bit of luck away from turning all of this around. When a team is winning and playing well suddenly an atmosphere lifts. This atmosphere can also be lifted by a new signing arriving. Players, top players, thrive on competition and also like us fans get a lift from fresh blood coming in.
The January window is opening soon and despite us not making a signing in the winter since 2015 (Dele, and he was loaned back) the manager has made it clear we need to be proactive not reactive if we are to stand any chance of securing another top four finish.
It is therefore my understanding that the club is going to try everything they can to not only make one or two signings for the first team squad right now but also look to sign players, like Dele and loan them back with them joining in the summer.
Regardless of all that I have said and I realise I have sounded pretty down on the players I get that it is actually only human nature to feel unmotivated when you find out everyone else doing the same job as you is earning more (Lovren at Liverpool is on double Alderweireld; stop laughing) and so the club must change. We must grow. January needs to be an active window to freshen things up and then from that point on Daniel needs to sit down with players and their agents upping our salary levels across the board.
A January where Toby signs a new deal, Barkley joins and Sessegnon signs with a loan back until the summer in place would certainly lift me; how about you?
-SJ
