Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Tottenham fans won't be able to draw much comfort from the news that Manchester United have made an official bid for Dimitar Berbatov, but there is at least one bonus; it might shut Emil Danchev up for a while. Berbatov's dastardly agent has been agitating for a move away from White Hart Lane ever since his client first started scoring goals there. The Bulgarian striker even tried publicly admonishing him on one occasion, but to no avail. Danchev just kept on talking. Silence will be golden.
Unfortunately that's all that Spurs fans can cling to because, make no mistake, Berbatov's departure will be a crushing blow for the club. It won't just mean saying goodbye to one of their most elegant players since Chris Waddle, it will mean that the rest of the squad are forced to reassess their career prospects, particularly strike-partner Robbie Keane, who was last spotted thumbing through a list of property prices in the north west while humming 'Ferry Cross The Mersey'. Whether Rafa Benitez gets his man or not, Keane has reportedly made it clear that he'd relish a move to the club he supported as a boy, so it's fair to say that his focus has drifted a little. New arrivals Luka Modric and Giovanni Dos Santos will be equally unimpressed, concerned that their advisors have directed them towards a selling club, and a selling club with no strikeforce at that.
Interestingly, it leaves the 19th highest-paid footballer on the planet, Darren Bent, to carry the burden of Tottenham's season. Only Spurs could splash nearly £20m on a striker they didn't need and then pay him more than the World Player of the Year, Fabio Cannavaro, but now he has a chance to impress. Last season's return of just 6 goals in 27 appearances wasn't entirely unsurprising given that a fair number of those appearances lasted for about five minutes, but Bent remains an interesting player. He's quick and strong, and he certainly can't complain of fatigue. However, he is just one man.
If Keane and Berbatov, one of the most potent partnerships in European football, do both leave then Juande Ramos will have to hit the stores quickly to buy replacements and there isn't much left on the shelves. Samuel Eto'o reportedly said that Tottenham wasn't a big enough challenge for him, which made him sound like one of those teenagers who can complete a Rubik's Cube in 30 seconds. Apparently, he's off to Uzbekistan anyway in a transfer that is all about challenges and absolutely not in any way about earning ludicrous amounts of money for very little work. Ramos has a natural preference for the Spanish transfer market which would put Diego Milito and Daniel Guiza in the frame, but he'll have to fight off a number of cash-rich rivals to secure either of them. It's certainly not the way he would have wanted his first full season to start.
But Tottenham's biggest problem is not simply the question of identifying replacements, nor is it placating the superstars that remain. It is the damage to their quest for continuity that will hurt the most. Every time they start to look balanced, dangerous and ready to break into the elite, something goes wrong somewhere and they come crashing off the rails. Last season was supposed to be 'the year' but injuries to Ledley King and Michael Dawson meant that they started the campaign with a backline as soft as wet cheese. Tottenham have been in a transitional season since 1992 and, with men like Danchev doing their best to wreck whatever progress they make, they'll be in one for a lot longer as well.
Unfortunately that's all that Spurs fans can cling to because, make no mistake, Berbatov's departure will be a crushing blow for the club. It won't just mean saying goodbye to one of their most elegant players since Chris Waddle, it will mean that the rest of the squad are forced to reassess their career prospects, particularly strike-partner Robbie Keane, who was last spotted thumbing through a list of property prices in the north west while humming 'Ferry Cross The Mersey'. Whether Rafa Benitez gets his man or not, Keane has reportedly made it clear that he'd relish a move to the club he supported as a boy, so it's fair to say that his focus has drifted a little. New arrivals Luka Modric and Giovanni Dos Santos will be equally unimpressed, concerned that their advisors have directed them towards a selling club, and a selling club with no strikeforce at that.
Interestingly, it leaves the 19th highest-paid footballer on the planet, Darren Bent, to carry the burden of Tottenham's season. Only Spurs could splash nearly £20m on a striker they didn't need and then pay him more than the World Player of the Year, Fabio Cannavaro, but now he has a chance to impress. Last season's return of just 6 goals in 27 appearances wasn't entirely unsurprising given that a fair number of those appearances lasted for about five minutes, but Bent remains an interesting player. He's quick and strong, and he certainly can't complain of fatigue. However, he is just one man.
If Keane and Berbatov, one of the most potent partnerships in European football, do both leave then Juande Ramos will have to hit the stores quickly to buy replacements and there isn't much left on the shelves. Samuel Eto'o reportedly said that Tottenham wasn't a big enough challenge for him, which made him sound like one of those teenagers who can complete a Rubik's Cube in 30 seconds. Apparently, he's off to Uzbekistan anyway in a transfer that is all about challenges and absolutely not in any way about earning ludicrous amounts of money for very little work. Ramos has a natural preference for the Spanish transfer market which would put Diego Milito and Daniel Guiza in the frame, but he'll have to fight off a number of cash-rich rivals to secure either of them. It's certainly not the way he would have wanted his first full season to start.
But Tottenham's biggest problem is not simply the question of identifying replacements, nor is it placating the superstars that remain. It is the damage to their quest for continuity that will hurt the most. Every time they start to look balanced, dangerous and ready to break into the elite, something goes wrong somewhere and they come crashing off the rails. Last season was supposed to be 'the year' but injuries to Ledley King and Michael Dawson meant that they started the campaign with a backline as soft as wet cheese. Tottenham have been in a transitional season since 1992 and, with men like Danchev doing their best to wreck whatever progress they make, they'll be in one for a lot longer as well.