Greatest ever foreign signing

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Our Greatest Foreign Import

  • Total voters
    92
  • Poll closed .
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Samisspurs said:
In the Sonny thread I asked if he was our greatest ever foreign signing. So here is its own thread.

Lets keep it British, so no Bale, Mackay, Blanchflower etc. Factors include ability, loyalty, and impact on the club.


My vote is Sonny, with Ardilles close second. Rafa, Ginola and Berba all close but not here long enough in my opinion.
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Poll? Another vote for Ossie. It played a huge part in making us a big name coming back up into Div 1 and on to our trophy successes and glamour of the early eighties.
 
OffTheBench said:
Wasn't there a premium rate phone number you could call for gossip, where they spoke really slowly? I guess that must've been a 90s thing.
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Not in 1978 as far as I can remember I was 9 years old though and wasnt allowed bear the house phone. Those premium rate numbers became a thing in the late 80’s iirc. I do remember there was a way of reversing the charges to listen to some American lady talk dirty around the mid 80’s. Our local phone box took a real hammering from all the Pervy teenage lads.
 
Kid Chameleon said:
I think Son needs a trophy before he can surpass David Ginola. Ossie was a good servant to the club as well as a great player but I don't think he carried us to glory in 1981 in the same way that Ginola did in 1999. The 81 team was full of match winners. Without Ginola, the 99 team was pretty much the team we had under Gerry Francis before Ginola came minus Sheringham.

It's possible that I'm a little biased because I'm not old enough to remember Ossie and Ricky. The 81 final happened 3 months before I was born and most of what I know about that time is from old matches I've watched and books/programmes I've read.

Son has the potential to do something great for our club. With Kane as good as gone, Son is our star man and I think he will thrive in that role.
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The reason the people who were around have voted for Ossie, is because he joined us after we had been promoted and we needed someone to put us back on the map, so to speak. He was a WC winner, and at the time, they were as rare as hens' teeth. He also was the perfect partner for the blossoming Hoddle. I don't think it can be overestimated how much Ossie's influence had on the success of that team.
 
This has me thinking about the best ever non Spurs foreign player in England. For me it’s Cantona. Won the league at Leeds and then every year he played at United. From memory, the only year they didn’t win the league while he was there was the season he was banned for his Kung fu kick. He was a remarkable talent even if he was a little bit odd.
 
Son has to be up there. His growth since he joined the club is phenomenal.

I don't doubt the impact of Ardiles but before my time (as a player anyway). But some of the names mentioned here are nowhere near Son. Ginola was a flair player in a horrible team so stood out but nowhere near the level of Son today. Klinsmann, huge signing but only a year plus that short loan spell.
 
Mrs Perryman said:
The reason the people who were around have voted for Ossie, is because he joined us after we had been promoted and we needed someone to put us back on the map, so to speak. He was a WC winner, and at the time, they were as rare as hens' teeth. He also was the perfect partner for the blossoming Hoddle. I don't think it can be overestimated how much Ossie's influence had on the success of that team.
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It's interesting - Ossie was a touch before my time, and stats weren't really a thing back then (and it was a different game) so it's difficult to compare, I just grew up with him known as a legend. Found this though:



Man could place a ball.

That and his appearance with Chas & Dave and in Escape to Victory surely makes him unsurmountable in this list.

1. Ossie Ardiles
2. Son Heung Min
3. David Ginola

Sonny just needs to get himself in Fast & Furious 10 or something
 
OffTheBench said:
Wasn't there a premium rate phone number you could call for gossip, where they spoke really slowly? I guess that must've been a 90s thing.
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Wasn't it 'SpursCall'?

An 0898 number charging a silly amount per minute for no information of any note at all. It was slower than the length of time it took for the Ceefax page you wanted to view eventually show up.
 
Boltonspur said:
Not in 1978 as far as I can remember I was 9 years old though and wasnt allowed bear the house phone. Those premium rate numbers became a thing in the late 80’s iirc. I do remember there was a way of reversing the charges to listen to some American lady talk dirty around the mid 80’s. Our local phone box took a real hammering from all the Pervy teenage lads.
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i rang one of those lines, hear my wife moan.......all I got was ' the bin needs taking out, the kitchen door needs rehanging and what time do you call this'

Anyway, Ossie for me.
 
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