Signal & Noise

There is a strong theory that you can predict the future with a fair degree of accuracy if you can split the content you’re faced with as something truthful and evidence based (signal) against conjecture and speculation (noise). When it comes to the transfer window the signals are needles in a haystack of noise.

Gone are the days of Clubcall, where you’d call a premium rate line to update yourself with updates on your club’s latest news, for some reason the tone of excited yet very slow, effusive talk to keep you listening for the extra minute or two. It’s strange when you look back on this time as being innocent times, but one only needs to look at NewsNow to see the clickbait, let’s see some of today’s…

Tony Cascarino thinks Tottenham Hotspur can get Ryan Sessegnon for less than £45m

Famed for his knowledge on the transfer market and deal negotiation, he believes that a club he never played for and has little interest in can get a player from another team he has never played for and has little interest in for a fee of less than £45m.

“Would take him any day” – Some Liverpool fans are keen on Spurs star

In reaction to a story where John Aldridge thinks Liverpool should sign Heung Min Son, Lucas Moura and Wilfred Zaha, the fans react in agreement.

“Jack Clarke is either finalizing a move to Spurs or isn’t, depending on who you read”

In this article we might or might not be signing a player, in other news it will rain tomorrow or it might not.

You have to take a step back at the news aggregator and just say, this is not news, this is reacting to things that might happen but haven’t happened and in fact may never happen, we’re truly through the looking glass now.

The online experience of our club and the transfer window reminds me of the TV coverage you get from a royal wedding. You’re looking at an empty road waiting for the procession and the commentator is making inane comments about the crowd/weather/person they met on the bus the other day. Until the time a few people go by, the commentator can then burst in to life to describe a hat that looks like the Sydney Opera House worn by a 15th cousin who will, according to their estimations, be an excellent advert for interbreeding. Then it goes back to inanity till the next hat comes along. That’s the transfer window but for longer a period of time but with less to talk about and even less contentment to find.

Transfers have become a very sensitive subject for Spurs. It digs at the identity of the club, the role of the Chairman and Manager, whether the past season could be considered an over achievement or a missed opportunity. Our transfer hiatus was controversial, no top team goes in to a season without signing a single player and we went against that narrative.

There is so much noise about why Spurs did not sign a player in the last couple of windows, theories ranging from Levy appearing like a spendthrift holding the club purse strings too tight or Pochettino having too much faith in an imperfect squad or failing to acknowledge the areas where we need to strengthen. Whatever the reality is, it does mean any hint of a transfer is jumped upon, placed under a microscope and benchmarked against the perceived ambitions of the club.

There is a growing concern I am honest about, every season that goes by without winning something, the desperation to get silverware creeps further. Not bringing in new talent last season only escalates anxieties. It’s a strange despair though. Spurs are not about to get relegated and we have the Champions League to prepare for. Along with a full season to properly prepare, this is not a doomsday scenario. 

We have a great manager and an excellent set up. The conditions are in place for success, now more than ever, but this is perhaps a double-edged sword. You have all the ingredients without any tangible trophy to show for it. That’s the thing, it’s a first world problem when you see it in context but as a club we live in the first world.

The desperation for new signing sets in and some folk start straining for any morsel of news. We see so little real content and so much speculation. I’ve seen some supporter’s forums paying for ITK knowledge, it’s cynical exploitation, pure and simple.

I can’t pretend to be perfect and say that I totally ignore all the noise but the less you choose to hear, the more sanity you’ll keep. We’re a great club, we’ll bring in talent and continue to develop what we have, regardless of what Tony Cascarino might speculate upon next.

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