Football: The odds are not even

[The Sunland Lord]

 

[Rorshach]

Don't really think a post-mortem is the thing for Everton, every pundit in the country writes one. And generally the answer to "what went wrong" is "everything", so not going there. 

Bigger question is, what do we need? What do we have? So a bit more comprehesive than what I wrote Sunday:

GK: Pickford has another year left on his contract. I'd say the most important thing there is to get him to prolong said contract - he's been one of our best players for a long time, and he's a top quality keeper in general. We can't really replace him, at least not without substantial amounts of luck.

Begovic/Longergan are both out of contract. We need a backup, Begovic works if he wants, otherwise it may be time to get a young one. Joao Virginia is out on loan, and has a year left, could be an option. But contract will probably run out...

Defense: Mina leaves. Vinagre's loan expires (yes, he was here). Coady's loan the same. And Coleman is out of contract. I'd say keep Coleman. Coady, if he wants and isn't too expensive, would be a good option for backup, I think. 

Otherwise there, Holgate, Keane and Godfrey have contracts through 2025 (sell the first two!), Tarkowski and Mykolenko through 2026 and Patterson through 2027. If Patterson somehow develops into a less injury-prone version of himself, we have a good RB. Mykolenko is a decent RB. Backup is needed though. Bratnthwaite will be back from loan, has two years on his contract. On the face of it, he looks like a Dyche defender. Nkounkou I think has said he wants to leave.

If we manage to get rid of Holgate and Keane, maybe another CB needed. Cover for LB absolutely needed.

Midfield: Decent cover. Davies is on outgoing contract, Gana and Iwobi a year left. Uncertain exactely what's needed, perhaps a bit more creativity. That'll be cheap..

Strikers: DCL is class when uninjured. Though when that'll happen is anyone's guess. Gray is perhaps half a striker, but he doesn't score a lot. Simms seems like he can be ok, Cannon who's out on loan the same. We can't say. 

Maupay has two years on his contract. Unfortunately. 

Needed: backup who can focus as leading light. That'll be cheap, too...

[Consigliere]

Reports that Al-Ittihad have made Benzema an offer of €100m/year plus bonuses. The reports say that he will communicate his decision to Real Madrid soon. If he ends up leaving then I could see Real making a move for Kane. The Spurs journos have reported that Levy would rather risk Kane leaving on a free at the end of next season than selling him to a PL side.

[Spockydog]

No way Levy lets Kane go. It is literally the only carrot he can put on his managerial stick.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Spockydog

[baxus]

Or he can accept that his club is mid-table at best and start rebuilding it with a manager suited to the task?

 

[Iskaral Pust]

From Levy’s POV to lead the long term (financial) stability & development of the club, he already managed to bring Spurs into the top-6 (it was a big-4 not that long ago, and he didn’t have City’s or Chelsea’s billions either) while skimping on transfers and contract improvements for a long time.  Poch and his squad were a huge financial success that created space for Levy to build the new stadium.  Then when he finally opened the transfer budget, they got some pretty poor value initially before doing somewhat better.

Keeping Kane will keep fans happy and thereby keep the club stable.  But if Kane won’t sign a new contract then they may as well sell him now to fund new signings that will keep the fans (temporarily) happy and help him to attract a new manager.  The odds are much worse than 50:50 that the Kane-funded transfers will work out as well as him but that’s the unfortunate problem of professional sports needing constant reinvention.  Levy has already milked about as much as he’s likely to from Kane; in fact they should probably name the stadium after Kane and Poch because that’s who really financed it indirectly.

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, baxus said:

Or he can accept that his club is mid-table at best and start rebuilding it with a manager suited to the task?

 

Looks like it's Postecoglu. So, yeah. 

[Rorshach]

I would think there's no real chance of Kane extending his contract - he would like to win things at some point in his career, and given how Spurs look atm, it won't be there. Given that, I would think Levy's options are selling him now and getting paid, or letting him be the focal point for the Spurs attack for a year and letting him go for nothing. 

Chances of getting someone ok to replace him is better with cash available, I think, but neither option is certain to succeed. I'd hate to be in Levy's shoes on this one. However, I would take the cash now, I think.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

9 hours ago, The Sunland Lord said:

 

So what? He is in Russia, I think he might be a Russian national by now (at least he applied for citizenship a couple of years ago, to avoid the legal troubles at home). 

Also he was happily used by EtH at Ajax, while he was under investigation by the Dutch police.*

I am kinda envisioning a Scarface ending for him.

 

*so it was kinda unlikely ten Hag would shut the door for Greenwood.

[The Sunland Lord]

Selling Kane and Son and then reinvest while they still can do it is the obvious choice imo, otherwise in a few years they'll be a stale squad without those two and without new good signings as well. Getting a year more with Kane is just that, another year while with smart signings they can compete again for top4, attract good managers etc. 

They even should've sold him in 2021 when he tried to force out a move.

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, The Sunland Lord said:

Selling Kane and Son and then reinvest while they still can do it is the obvious choice imo, otherwise in a few years they'll be a stale squad without those two and without new good signings as well. Getting a year more with Kane is just that, another year while with smart signings they can compete again for top4, attract good managers etc. 

They even should've sold him in 2021 when he tried to force out a move.

 

And deprive the world of the second coming of C. Ronaldo at United? Or the Norwegian cyborg not playing at the financially doped Cheatey? 

No, Sir, Levy did everything right there. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by A Horse Named Stranger

[The Sunland Lord]

20 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

And deprive the world of the second coming of C. Ronaldo at United? Or the Norwegian cyborg not playing at the financially doped Cheatey? 

No, Sir, Levy did everything right there. 

Don't know who the second coming of C. Ronaldo should be. And tbh, Haaland was an established name before City bought him, I don't think Tottenham could've signed him at that point in time anyways.

[The Sunland Lord]

Sevilla are such dirty cunts. 

[lacuna]

What team isn't?

[The Sunland Lord]

Taylor is alright tonight, considering the task he has on his hands

[A Horse Named Stranger]

C'mon Sevilla, sad Mourinho = best Mourinho.

[Winterfell is Burning]

You don't mess with Sevilla in the Europa League. Or with Montiel in the 4th penalty, apparently

[Corvinus85]

Didn't bother to watch it. Sevilla wins again. zzzzzzzz

[AncalagonTheBlack]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/31/treasurys-sanctions-police-reviewing-finances-of-everton-fc-owner-guardian-understands

The Treasury’s sanctions police have been reviewing the finances of the Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, the Guardian understands.

Moshiri appears to have become a person of interest to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) because of his links to Alisher Usmanov, the Russian-Uzbek billionaire who was sanctioned by the UK, the EU and the US after last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

[BigFatCoward]

is there any other sport/tournament where one side does freakishly well in?  its so random that they dominate.  Its not even like they were particularly good those years, league positions of 5th, 3rd, 5th, 5th, 7th, 4th and currently 11th.