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Ex-Spurs Player Christian Eriksen

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Gottta be honest; there's a lot of water under the bridge since he left and given the sheer amount of squad building and depth improvement we need in the summer; his history with Conte (and us) makes signing him on a free a no brainer.

Would help take some of the sting out of letting Ndombele & Lo Celso at a loss for a start.

+ Eriksen
+ Another
Bentancur
Skipp
PEH
Sarr (?)
Winks (?)


We need 6 CMs if we're gonna play 352. Even if we stick with 343 I'd argue we still need 5.
 
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Gottta be honest; there's a lot of water under the bridge since he left and given the sheer amount of squad building and depth improvement we need in the summer; his history with Conte makes signing him on a free a no brainer.

Would help take some of the sting out of letting Ndombele & Lo Celso at a loss for a start.

+ Eriksen
+ Another
Bentancur
Skipp
PEH
Sarr (?)
Winks (?)


We need 6 CMs if we're gonna play 352. Even if we stick with 343 I'd argue we still need 5.

I still don't get why we didn't sign him in January. The risk was pretty much zero with a fantastic upside.
 
I still don't get why we didn't sign him in January. The risk was pretty much zero with a fantastic upside.

As a 3rd MF signing I'd agree, but as a primary target leaving us dependent on him, not so much....

- Maybe him not being 1st (Diaz), 2nd (Traore) or even 3rd/4th priority (the Juve lads) simply left the door open for Brentford to exploit the Danish connection with Franke + virtually guaranteed game-time?
- Perhaps he wanted to test the water first?
- Perhaps we wanted someone else to test the water for us first?
 
As a 3rd MF signing I'd agree, but as a primary target leaving us dependent on him, not so much....

- Maybe him not being 1st (Diaz), 2nd (Traore) or even 3rd/4th priority (the Juve lads) simply left the door open for Brentford to exploit the Danish connection with Franke + virtually guaranteed game-time?
- Perhaps he wanted to test the water first?
- Perhaps we wanted someone else to test the water for us first?

He was a free + not wanting big wages. Hardly a distraction to have gone for him, it's not like we spent an entire window super duper busy, we signed two players in the final days.

But yes maybe he wanted to test the waters first, but I have a feeling that if we showed serious interest, he'd be here. No reason to let Brentford test the waters (WE needed more midfielders!) when if he ended up being useless then he just leaves in the summer.
 
He was a free + not wanting big wages. Hardly a distraction to have gone for him, it's not like we spent an entire window super duper busy, we signed two players in the final days.

- We had 4 players who were trying to nail (notably the ones we didn't nail were still protracted as we were seemingly strung along by other clubs/agents).
- We also had 3 loans (2 of which would have been tricky to source due to big wages)
- Finally, the convoluted Dele deal.

I'd say that was busy for a mere month.

But yes maybe he wanted to test the waters first, but I have a feeling that if we showed serious interest, he'd be here. No reason to let Brentford test the waters (WE needed more midfielders!) when if he ended up being useless then he just leaves in the summer.

I've suggested 3 'maybe' scenarios; not claiming any of them to be the case or claiming that I wouldn't have chosen different, but I completely understand why only (eg) Bentancur & Eriksen incoming would have been risky.... I mean look how important Kulu feels already.... Imagine if we didn't have him and CE took too long to get up to speed.
 
- We had 4 players who were trying to nail (notably the ones we didn't nail were still protracted as we were seemingly strung along by other clubs/agents).
- We also had 3 loans (2 of which would have been tricky to source due to big wages)
- Finally, the convoluted Dele deal.

I'd say that was busy for a mere month.



I've suggested 3 'maybe' scenarios; not claiming any of them to be the case or claiming that I wouldn't have chosen different, but I completely understand why only (eg) Bentancur & Eriksen incoming would have been risky.... I mean look how important Kulu feels already.... Imagine if we didn't have him and CE took too long to get up to speed.

There's no way we wouldn't have time/resources available to do what we did in January and also bring in a player who was on a free and only wanted a 6 month contract to see where he was at. It was likely the easiest deal we could possibly offer.

I don't know how signing Eriksen would impact signing Kulusevski. We lost 4 players from the squad, including two creative midfielders. We signed one utility CM in Bentancur and a wide player in Kulusevski, there was still a clear need for a creative mid.
 
There's no way we wouldn't have time/resources available to do what we did in January and also bring in a player who was on a free and only wanted a 6 month contract to see where he was at. It was likely the easiest deal we could possibly offer.

I don't think you or I are in a position to definitively say that.

I don't know how signing Eriksen would impact signing Kulusevski.

See my previous comments about where CE would have sat in the list of priorities...... If we'd have been gunning for Eriksen in the earlier stages of the window it could potentially have compromised us ending up with someone else (eg Kulu).

We lost 4 players from the squad, including two creative midfielders. We signed one utility CM in Bentancur and a wide player in Kulusevski, there was still a clear need for a creative mid.

Fair enough, but that doesn't negate the fact that we spent much valuable time pursuing Diaz & Traore and that ultimately the conversation here boils down to just that; time,

There were 8 deals on the table..... 6 got done..... In one month.

.........I don't know how far you think one month stretches.
 
.........I don't know how far you think one month stretches.

Far enough for Newcastle to sign 5 players in it, but not far enough for us to sign 2 players from one club and secure one free signing? We had a few sales sure .. but strengthening should have been the absolute priority.

(And yes, I get it .. they're rich. But adding Eriksen on top wasn't about wealth, it was about taking a punt on a player on a free transfer. This was a deal requiring the lowest amount of effort possible, with no club to negotiate with, and the competition being Brentford.)
 
Far enough for Newcastle to sign 5 players in it, but not far enough for us to sign 3 with a few outs I guess.

5 deals (no outs for them IIRC) vs 8 deals.

I repeat:

"- We had 4 players who were trying to nail (notably the ones we didn't nail were still protracted as we were seemingly strung along by other clubs/agents).
- We also had 3 loans (2 of which would have been tricky to source due to big wages)
- Finally, the convoluted Dele deal."


(And yes, I get it .. they're rich. .....)

I've not mentioned money......
 
5 deals (no outs for them IIRC) vs 8 deals.

I repeat:

"- We had 4 players who were trying to nail (notably the ones we didn't nail were still protracted as we were seemingly strung along by other clubs/agents).
- We also had 3 loans (2 of which would have been tricky to source due to big wages)
- Finally, the convoluted Dele deal."




I've not mentioned money......

You don't think Newcastle also had any other deals in the pipeline? Including a manager search?

If we as a club were unable to do the business we did in the summer but also add a free signing on top who had little competition for his signature, we are fucking inept at signing players. Seems to me we didn't even try, which is highly frustrating.
 
You don't think Newcastle also had any offer deals in the pipeline?

Don't know...... I just know our situ (my club).

You brought them up.

Including a manager search?

Leave it out mate!

He was appointed November 9th.....

If we as a club were unable to do the business we did in the summer

Eh?

January mate..... i.e. 1 month; not 2.

but also add a free signing on top who had little competition for his signature, we are fucking inept at signing players. Seems to me we didn't even try, which is highly frustrating.

1. All due respect; you're kinda just sticking your fingers in your ears, mate..... I'm not claiming which one if any was the case; but never-the-less there's plenty of justifiable rationale as to why we didn't sign him in Jan.
2. As much as anything reported is reliable..... We did get mentioned and it was also suggested we may very well come back for him in the summer (which would suggest maybe we did prefer to let someone else test the water)......


As for "testing the water"... You not think the club might have even sought to see that he didn't keel over again within a couple of weeks? .......As simple as you want it to be; this is not a standard situ.
 
Don't know...... I just know our situ (my club).

You brought them up.



Leave it out mate!

He was appointed November 9th.....



Eh?

January mate..... i.e. 1 month; not 2.



1. All due respect; you're kinda just sticking your fingers in your ears, mate..... I'm not claiming which one if any was the case; but never-the-less there's plenty of justifiable rationale as to why we didn't sign him in Jan.
2. As much as anything reported is reliable..... We did get mentioned and it was also suggested we may very well come back for him in the summer (which would suggest maybe we did prefer to let someone else test the water)......


As for "testing the water"... You not think the club might have even sought to see that he didn't keel over again within a couple of weeks? .......As simple as you want it to be; this is not a standard situ.


Don't think I'm sticking my fingers in my ears at all, I recognise the points you've made but just don't think any of them stick. Eriksen was free all season, we had time to approach him beforehand and ask about his contract situation. Kulu & Bentancur were secured in the final week, Diaz was an opportunistic punt, and Adama had been discussed for ages. None of these deals should've been keeping us so busy we couldn't offer a free player a contract. There would have been gaps between busy periods where we were managing sales too.

The only valid reason I can see is that we were letting another club test the waters. But if he was cleared medically, which he was, then I see zero reason why we couldn't be that club. Again he filled a need and was next to no risk due to wages/no transfer fee. We're not in a situation where we can be picky, we're pretty damn desperate for midfield bodies, creativity and a set piece taker. Not to mention he had experience under Conte + at Spurs.

(Got my dates mixed up regarding Howe's appointment. But Newcastle signed 5 players and were also submitting bids for other players. Zero reason we don't have the staff to manage a similar number of deals.)
 
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