The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 28th August

[sausage]

Well this is where I disagree.

We've had YEARS to prepare for what happens with or god forbid after Kane.

We even got rid of a old log that could fill in from time to time.

Why can't we bring in competition? We seem to be the only top club that obsesses about the player needing to be 'back up'.

We did for YEARS (for emphasis). What you may not want to accept is that we've had 5 years plus with a manager who bought competition (Janssen, Llorente) and never used it, and instead prioritised players who weren't specialist strikers because he wanted versatility.

I don't know why Son is completely ignored as 'competition' or 'cover' for Kane considering he's shown he's more than capable, either.

If we're bringing in a target man as some sort of auxiliary role, it's probably because JM wants depth rather than to drop Kane or Son or Moura etc.

 

[wrd]

Interesting info from Hercules. I wonder if the ‘difficulty to shift’ has anything to do with the ‘attitude’ issues that I’m pretty sure were referred to in previous ITK?

I think it's pretty obvious that it's because we value him at a certain figure and no club is willing to pay that fee after all that has transpired in the past 12 months both globally and personally with Ndombele.

 

[wrd]

We did for YEARS (for emphasis). What you may not want to accept is that we've had 5 years plus with a manager who bought competition (Janssen, Llorente) and never used it, and instead prioritised players who weren't specialist strikers because he wanted versatility.

I don't know why Son is completely ignored as 'competition' or 'cover' for Kane considering he's shown he's more than capable, either.

If we're bringing in a target man as some sort of auxiliary role, it's probably because JM wants depth rather than to drop Kane or Son or Moura etc.

We obviously need an extra forward because we've seen the devastating effects injuries can have on our season but why people can't appreciate we already have a plan B going from: Moura Kane Son to Moura Son Bergwijn I don't know. We need a plan C and the club isn't going to spend a big fee on it.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

TN being difficult to move shouldn’t surprise anyone. At least 42 million and 200k a week, plus a growing reputation for not putting the work in, and all in a Covid landscape. Add to the ‘deadwood’ factor that tends to tinge our transfer dealings and I’d be mighty shocked if we actually shifted him

 

[Metalhead]

Probably has underlying fitness problems

Actually you are probably on the money there and would explain the 'can't go into it' reference from Hercules. Attitude issues have never really been a barrier because most managers think that they can deal with that.

 

[buttons]

Serge yes, but I don't think getting a striker is dependent on the sale of Ndombele. We have other saleable assets like Gazza, Rose and Foyth while others have also been linked to moves away via ITK and media reports.

Quite. I think we’ll get a striker either way but sure Dragon said the other day that if shift TN then there is a PL proven striker we want for bigger money.

 

[mil1lion]

Sounds like another Llorente type signing up front and I'm happy enough with that.
If Ndombele does stay it's not too bad provided he gets focused again. Maybe having his mate Aurier gone would help considering Aurier also wants out so maybe has an influence on him. He's actually exactly the type of player we could do with , we just need him to turn things around which has certainly happened before.

 

[BENNO]

We did for YEARS (for emphasis). What you may not want to accept is that we've had 5 years plus with a manager who bought competition (Janssen, Llorente) and never used it, and instead prioritised players who weren't specialist strikers because he wanted versatility.

I don't know why Son is completely ignored as 'competition' or 'cover' for Kane considering he's shown he's more than capable, either.

If we're bringing in a target man as some sort of auxiliary role, it's probably because JM wants depth rather than to drop Kane or Son or Moura etc.

Absolutely agree with this. There is nobody we could buy who would be comparable in ability to Kane OR Son. And there seems little point buying a poor mans version of either of them, so given the latest ITK i assume/expect we will buy someone who is just 'different' from them - which seems sensible.

 

[stonebrow]

Interesting info from Hercules. I wonder if the ‘difficulty to shift’ has anything to do with the ‘attitude’ issues that I’m pretty sure were referred to in previous ITK?

Are his attitude issues not common knowledge anyway?

 

[freeeki]

Well this is where I disagree.

We've had YEARS to prepare for what happens with or god forbid after Kane.

We even got rid of a old log that could fill in from time to time.

Why can't we bring in competition? We seem to be the only top club that obsesses about the player needing to be 'back up'.

Our current post-Kane plan is currently on loan at Millwall.

Doesn’t help us in the meantime of course, so I’m glad all ITK seems to be pointing to us getting another striker in

 

[WiganSpur]

dragon1 said:
Our next priority is a striker Jose wants a target man in

I'm glad it's a target man. I don't really buy the argument that we need someone who can play with Kane, we have Son Lucas Bergwijn etc for that. What we need is someone who's brilliant in the air that will be a weapon against teams who park the bus and allow us lots of crosses.

 

[rawhide]

I'm glad it's a target man. I don't really buy the argument that we need someone who can play with Kane, we have Son Lucas Bergwijn etc for that. What we need is someone who's brilliant in the air that will be a weapon against teams who park the bus and allow us lots of crosses.

Don’t we need players that can, you know, actually cross the ball with some accuracy as well?

 

[slartibartfast]

Don’t we need players that can, you know, actually cross the ball with some accuracy as well?

I thought of Aurier when I read that op lol

 

[Metalhead]

Are his attitude issues not common knowledge anyway?

Yes although the way that the football world works, I guess that it's difficult to keep anything under wraps.

 

[Guernman]

So let me get this straight. We know it is going to be a MAJOR challenge to attract suitors for Ndombele because it is already public knowledge that:

1. Ndombele has massive fitness issues and is more likely to run to fat, than to run to support his defence...

2. He has a serious attitude problem, and cannot be bothered to put in the necessary grind in training or getting to peak fitness. Both Poch, who wanted him, and Jose, have made it clear that he is no way near ready to compete at the highest level fitness wise

3. Despite the club making a huge investment in him, as our most expensive acquisition ever, his entourage has been agitating for a move for the last 6 months

4. He has contracted covid 19 (clearly not his fault and I wish him a full and speedy recovery of course, but it certainly doesn't make transferring him any easier over the next few weeks)

but on top of all of this, we are now to understand that there is some OTHER reason that will make him hard to shift, which hopefully won't come out ?!?.. I need to lie down

 

[Legacy]

Don’t we need players that can, you know, actually cross the ball with some accuracy as well?

Like Bergwijn and Doherty?

 

[kent brockman]

It’s not great news that TN may prove difficult to move on, however perhaps one saving grace is that it’s the Euros next summer, if he wants a space in the national team he knows he will have to prove himself via his performances for us. Let’s hope if it comes to that he will up his attitude and game. Thanks for the info Herc ?

Agreed. If he has a repeat of last season, he will not make the Euros and his career will basically be over at the age of 24.

If that does not motivate him to get his act together (once this year’s window shuts), nothing ever will IMO.

 

[SSC]

It’s going to be very interesting to see who our main targets emerge as. So far our business has been very targeted and love him or loath him Jose has managed to get Levy to buy PL ready players for reasonable fees quite decisively.

Our second striker will need to be more than a Llorente, who had some great moments but struggled to make an impact consistently as a starter. Assuming all goes well with EL quali, we’re going to have so many matches when factoring in UK cups (something like 9 games in first 22 days of season). Kane cannot and should not be starting more than 75/80% of these so said targets will likely have a certain pedigree. (No dog jokes please! ?)

 

[snakehipsspurs]

I don’t think we’re buying a target man to win headers against lesser sides, the reason is we need someone other than Kane who can hold up the ball and bring players in on the counter attack (the actual definition of target man!).

We saw with Giroud at Chelsea last year how effective a target man that doesn’t score goals can be in a quick, fluid attacking side. A proper target man would allow us to hold our shape if Kane is out the team, or play together with him even because they will draw some of the centre back’s focus off Kane.

I like it. We have more that enough fast, line breaking second striker types with Son, Lucas and Dele. Let’s get a lump!

 

[nedley]

Because Harry Kane’s a top 3 striker in the world so nobody is ever being brought in to provide him competition because there simply is none.

Disagree.

Was Jesus brought to Man City as back up or to provide Augero with competition.

It was the latter.