It seemed like déjà vu all over again.

In 1992, just before I headed up to Enfield for the Eddie Baily testimonial match, I went out to get a newspaper.  Picking up the Standard, I turned to the back page to find "Venables sacked" screaming out at me from the newsprint.

Having spent a nice afternoon watching a DVD, I went out to drive down to Enfield to watch a Spurs Ladies match and turned on the radio.  Switching to TalkSport, I found myself hearing something that I knew nothing about.  "Spurs' statement", "tapping up" and "Chelsea" all followed in a conversation I felt that I ought to have known something about but didn't.  As the discussion went on, I started to form a picture of what had gone on and that Spurs had put a statement on their website.  Knowing THFC, such a move would only be taken if they were convinced that they were within their rights to do so.

So, the calls came in slating Chelsea for the arrogant way they do business and then some pointing fingers at Arnesen for taking the twelve(ty) pieces of silver offered by Abramovich.  Jason Cundy said he was not embarrassed about the way his club were acting, while Gary Stevens followed him to say that something had to be done to stop football sliding into anarchy.

I fully realise that "loyalty" is an anachronistic concept in the modern game.  It is obvious that Arnesen was using THFC as a stepping stone.  From going into retirement after his time at PSV Eindhoven, Spurs offered him a task of reshaping the club.  Given a unique over-seeing role of identifying players, bringing in young players, heading up the Academy and scouting network, as well as negotiating transfers and contracts.  

He had a three year contract to see this through, but now he wants to chase the roubles at Stamford Bridge.  With him, when he goes (not if), will go the knowledge of the contract details the Spurs players have, making Chelsea well placed to offer riches beyond Tottenham's reaches.  With him will probably go the scouts he has put in place for Tottenham and the links to the contacts he had, which Tottenham had virtually bought with his contract.  The Spurs physio has already gone and you will probably ask who will be next ?  Having reduced the Academy staff with some sackings already and brought a new Academy manager in, who will finish the job ?

Chelsea are treating the rules of the Premier League with disdain.  As someone said on TalkSport, they have shown that coming into money does not mean that they have either manners or class.

The West London club might have a lot of money, but they are morally bankrupt.  Their glory hunting fans will no doubt think that it is a great laugh, but one day the shoe might be on the other foot.  When the money that underpins their success dries up, what then ?  They, like their trophies, will dissipate so quickly, like the steam that comes out of a pressure cooker, as the heat on the club fires up with every new scandal that they instigate.  There is no real respect for anyone or anything outside of Stamford Bridge.  Abramovich and Mourinho conduct themselves like little kids.  Abramovich is like the character 'Spoiled B*****d' in Viz, who, if he wants something, just gets someone to go out and buy it.  Mourinho seems to think he is the "Special One"  ... that's about right.  Special in his own mind.  He thinks his side ought to go through to the final of the Champions League because they are the better team and not because the score said so.  He's Special alright.  He now thinks he is special because he has taken his high-priced, bought-in team to the Premier League championship.  Well, whoopie doo.  Perhaps he might like to do it at a club where he doesn't have millions at his disposal ... an achievement like David Moyes has done at Everton.  Can you imagine him motivating West Brom to stay up ??  No.  He is OK at the top of the tree, but if the club was struggling would he be having the same (comparable) success ?

The whole thing about Arnesen going to Chelsea stumps me.  Where is he going to fit in with an ego-maniac and a Russian Oligarch ?  He is supposedly being taken there to run their youth development scheme, by buying in young talent and bringing it on so they don't have to pay out huge transfer fees.  Is Roman's empire crumbling then ?  Are the Drogbas of the club a thing of the past ?  Where will the next title come from if there are no more billions to spend ?  

With Chelsea having just signed a 16 year old from Bristol Rovers, you might ask why they need Frankie.  Or was this his first recommendation ??  Who knows.  With Man U and Arsenal having contacts throughout the world for youth players, Chelsea will be another player in that level of the game, but with (supposedly) more leverage to "entice" youngsters to go to them.  It won't be with promises of glory, but with illegal approaches (no doubt) and some bags of nice sweeteners thrown in. 

While Spurs might not have liked the approach for Arnesen, Chelsea did not need to copy the Sporting Director in to the letter requesting permission to speak to him ... unless they had approached him already and this was just courtesy in keeping him "in the loop".  If they had gone through the right channels, it would have resulted in Tottenham agreeing to let him go for a huge settlement.  And Chelsea would have been seen to have learned a lesson.

The FA will do nothing meaningful.  Anything will be a slap on the wrists and they will go on abusing the system.  Because they can AFFORD to.  Taking appropriate action to stop such flagrant disregard for other clubs and the rules of the League is something the FA Premier League CANNOT AFFORD to do.

Wyart Lane

Spoilt B*****d is a comic character from the magazine VIZ, a young vain child with a self-sacrificing and suffering mother. The boy is called Timmy Timpson and he lives with his doting, docile mother after his father walked out immediately following his son's earliest outrageous demand ('b*****d' is therefore used in its literal sense).

Timmy spends each story bullying, cajoling and blackmailing his mother into buying him outrageous gifts and trinkets which she cannot afford.  Often the stories parody a topical event or phenomenon (i.e. Timmy demanding all the merchandise and backstage access at some popular band's concert).  At school he is a loudmouthed, cowardly, prejudiced bully though he rarely gets his comeuppance either at home or school.

Definition from Answers.com ... how apt is that last line ??

05.06.05

Here we go again, then.  Another typical pre pre-season at Spurs following a relatively promising season and a period of settled and sensible building and planning for the future. 

One year into the latest xx year plan:

We’ve sold Simon Davies.

We’re probably selling Robbie Keane. 

There’s rumours Robinson will be forcefully prised from us – although for a healthy profit – and the Ledley King/Jermaine Defoe to Chelsea/Scum/Man U rumours haven’t even been dragged out yet.  

We’ve had the revelations in the press that the club wasn’t aware of the qualifying round we would have to play should we be pulled from the Fair-Play hat, potentially casting our pre-season plans into chaos. 

And Frank Arnesen, Mr. Building Spurs For The Future, wants to leave us. 

So less than a year on from Santini, Arnesen and Jol arriving, it’s a case of and then there was one. 

Now, I used to be a “glass is half empty” type of guy, but these days I’m more of a “some bugger spat in my lager and now I’ve got a full glass that’s utterly worthless”, sort of person, and I blame Spurs for this.  Every time they seem to be heading in the right direction, they turn themselves around and strike out the opposite way, but this time, I’m not so sure.

Let’s be Frank, what was he doing ?   Where are his Petit and Vieira ?  Wenger bought these to the Scum with him, or at least within his first year.  Hardly no one on the planet had heard of them in terms of world football, and they looked like mugs for a short while, but once they adapted to English football, the two of them, sadly, oozed class.  What has Frank done for us in his first year ?  A lot of very solid signings, in all the right places:  Edman, Pamarot, Carrick, Mendes, Ziegler, etc., but also some slightly worrying ones (am I the only one who starts to get the shakes whenever Atouba gets the ball in our half of the field?) and some that might never work out – Calum Davenport looks like he might be one of these, and although it’s great to see us investing in youth and potential, when the fees are in excess of a million, you start to think, how much did Scum pay for Toure and Senderos, both regulars who were never farmed out on loan the second they got there ?  Sadly, when held up against our closest and bitterest rivals, we still don’t seem to compare.   

Continuing this theme, we’ve also been paying a lot of money out for more established players.  Reid and Dawson were hardly cheap.  There are general doubts about Reid, but I like him, and hope he’ll become a favourite.  Dawson has simply looked like a class act.  But did we need Frank to find them?  They were playing in a major league and have been involved in different tiers of their national sides for a while now.  If you’re a football man – and I’m not, I’m a Spurs fan who, therefore, rarely watches European football and only takes notice of international football when the qualifiers and tournaments come around, and is unashamedly blinkered to the talents of players from other domestic clubs unless Spurs look like they might sign them – you hardly need a magnifying glass to see there are a couple of good players up at Forest and a few million quid will get them.  The same with Routledge and Andy Johnson.  Overseas football might be a different matter, but with agents supposedly on the phone every couple of minutes saying I’ve got this bloke called Rebrov who’s the highest scorer in that competition you’ve never got into and a few gazillion roubles will get him, how hard can it be ?  I know I’m simplifying things, but was Frank ever needed in the first place?

Personally, I don’t think so.  That’s not to say I’ll be sorry if he stays, so long as he chooses to stay and doesn’t just get penned in by his contract – he’s certainly made a better go of Director of Football than Pleat ever did, and Venables before him.  But if he does go, I’d like to see Jol put in his rightful place as the man who chooses the first team, buys the players he wants to go in it, and sells those he doesn’t think quite make the grade.  He seems up for the challenge.  Let’s see if he’s up to it as well.

As for Frank, the question Spurs need to be asking, is why did he want to leave for Chelsea ?  If it’s money in terms of his wages, then screw him – how much money do these people need?  If it’s money to spend on players, then fair enough (to a degree).  In all walks of life, we want the best tools in order to do the best job.  Yet Frank knew our limits when he came here – unless Levy lied to him, or unless the limits were explained and then tightened.  Another reason for the defection could be he’s realised he can’t cut it at Spurs.  He failed to get Van Bommel, who’s been quoted in the press as saying Spurs just weren’t big enough, and he appears to be failing in our seemingly never ending quest to get Owen Hargreaves on board.  If, for various reasons, you can’t fulfill the remit of your job, then what’s the point in getting out of bed in the mornings?

The worst scenario is that behind the scenes the club is in some sort of turmoil on a personal or financial level, and we’re about to see another El-Tel, Sugar style melt-down.  Would Spurs ever recover if this were the case ?

Irrespective of the above, Frank came here to do a job and he hasn’t done it, and in only staying for a year, he didn’t give us much of a chance, did he ?  Thanks for nothing, Frank.

In terms of the way Chelsea have behaved, well, do unto others… Rupert Lowe hasn’t got much to laugh about these days, but he’s probably having a chuckle after the ham-fisted way we took Hoddle from him.  And everyone up at Forest will be thinking, you weren’t shy about letting the press know you wanted Reid and Dawson.  And Simon Jordan at Palace will probably be turning cartwheels screeching, have some of it yourselves, you tossers.  Football’s just a food chain, and at this moment in time, Chelsea are higher up the food chain than we’ve been for a long time now.  At least they kept this out of the press, even if they did copy Frank in on their letter, then talk to him irrespective of what Spurs said they could do.  Personally, I feel the club are right to suspend Frank.  They are right to sue Chelsea for every rouble they can get out of them.  But we don’t have the moral high-ground here.  We’re just the victims of a game we don’t mind playing ourselves.

What I find most baffling about the whole affair, though, is why do Chelsea want him ?  I can see why Spurs need someone who carries his “doors open/phones get answered” reputation.  But if the tea-lady at Chelsea phoned most clubs, she’d get an answer these days.  They’ve got Kenyon rampaging over everyone as it is.  Why do they need anyone else ?  If it’s because Arnesen goes about his job quietly without upsetting anyone and they want to improve their image, it seems a bit of an own goal so far. 

My worst fear is it’s just the best way they can think in getting King and Defoe to join them.   How much fun will that be for us ?  Pot-less, Frank-less, no Robinson, no King, no Defoe, no Davies, no Keane, and West Ham back in the Premiership.   If there’s a God, it’s tempting to think He’s a Gooner, but in all truth, I’m not so sure.  If Frank’s defection does one thing, it sinks Levy’s argument that having a Director of Football does away with the sudden shift in direction that occurs when managers leave or get sacked.  Even Levy must now see it just postpones that sudden shift in direction till the director of football leaves or gets sacked.  After Venables and Shreeves, Pleat and anyone, Frank and Santini, and now, finally this, it could be the end for Directors of Football at White Hart Lane.  If we can get a million quid compensation into the bargain, twelve points deducted from Chelsea, and maybe Scott Parker as well, then good riddance to Frank, and hello to Manager Jol. 

Stella Spurs

PS – just heard we might be sacking Kanoute, Mido and Atouba for not bothering to go on our trip to Mauritius.  Happy holidays, Spurs fans.  Enjoy the summer break in the knowledge your club is moving forwards as usual…

How disappointing that Frank took on the role at Spurs, signed the contract, and now appears to be more interested in money than proving himself to be the genius for spotting talent that his reputation is built on.   It begs the question "What value will he add to Chelsea ?"   They already have the best squad in the Premiership and possibly Europe.  If they spend a mere £20m (small change to their Chairman) they can fix the right-back problem and have no need for a top scout like Frank.

Moreover it makes a mockery of any contract - how can we ask players like Defoe, Robinson & King to commit to the club, when the people asking them to commit show no commitment of their own ?   This tapping up, along with the Ashley Cole affair (which a Tottenham director testified at) will have long-standing repercussions in the game.  If allowed to continue to its logical conclusion, there will no longer be a 'Tottenham Hotspur' team, merely the 11 individuals currently at the club this week deemed best to play.  In turn this will result in there being no local pride or community partisan following.   Imagine a constantly changing 11 players playing for Tottenham at a purpose built multi-sports stadium bought from the Olympic committee somewhere in Stratford and you might have vision of the future.

The sad thing is - for every Ashley Cole there is a Dean Richards or Willem Korsten - guys trying to make a living in a very short career, which is cut even shorter by unforeseen circumstances.   At present they have some kind of protection in their contract, that the club will stand by them for better or worse to provide for them even if they are not playing.   In the future it will be "no play no pay" which will probably mean increased wages for the players but reduced risk for the clubs and the players will only ever get effectively short-term contracts and if they are prematurely injured - tough luck.

What this ultimately boils down to is greed for the gifted and lucky winning the day.  At one level you can't argue with that - it's market forces and its what the West is built on, but for a sporting event, I think the very spirit of the people's game of Football it will be lost forever.

Ray Hockley
Tottenham Fan for 32 years

I truly dislike the BBC, I watched a first half of women's football, just in order to see our make or break (sort of) half time draw for the UEFA Cup. But thank god for Sky Sports news, my genuine hope for a bit of luck at the end of this distinctly luckless season was knocked back.

Aside from that, my main issues are ;

- Frank Arnesen, how much is he to blame ? I feel will be the major discussion point for many Spurs fans. He seemed as happy as Franky throughout the season and appeared to be moulding a club to his liking, the Arnesen revolution is/was (you decide) taking shape.  Now we have a Sporting Director who wants away and a managerial system that potentially could be broken at its base, who could replace him?, Do we keep the continental system ?  And what of Chelsea, surely only a points deduction could truly act as a deterrent to the bottomless pockets of Mourinho's men.  For my part I feel we should continue to rebuff any Chelsea approaches and keep our man, after a season he strikes me as a professional enough man to continue with his job, keeping the clubs best interests at the fore.  If Jose wants him that's enough to tell me, in Mr. Arnesen, we have the best exponent of our chosen management system in European (possibly world) football.

- Then there is Robbie Keane, truly an enigma. Reid -> Keane -> Volley -> Goal, its a simple chain, but once Robbie went off Ireland were a different team.  Now I know he can be frustrating and missed chances come with his game, but we all shout from the roof tops about Jermaine, but truly is he much more clinical than Keane? ok he probably is.  My biggest problem comes with who replaces "Keano" ?  AJ (Andy Johnson) - are we not buying a player very similar to Defoe.  So really what I'm getting towards is, let's leave Jermain and Robbie where they are fighting out for the "little guy" spot, and if we are going to make changes to our strike-force I think it really should come in the "big man" spot.  Two obviously talented players in Freddie and Mido, but one woefully inconsistent and the other unable to get on the pitch in the first place.  Me, I want us to sign Jan Vennegor of Hesselink, purely so I can get it put on the shirt, and for £3/4 million he looked a good player for PSV in the Champions League.

Anyway ... maybe they will all stay, or maybe they will all go, but one thing returns next year ... Wembley.  We never really did get on that well with Cardiff, and our record at the "home" of football ain't too bad so what are the odds on spurs, because it might just be worth a few pence here and there.

Richard, Luton
The eternal optimist

I was about to write a perspective on the 2004-5 season from Down Under.  Instead, I would just like to say how miffed I am about Arnesen.  

We should expect nothing after Sol ‘I’ll never leave Spurs which dotted line do I sign on Arsene ?’ Campbell. Of the three musketeers from last summer we’re now down to one.  Chelsea are the Harlem Globetrotters of football – why don’t they just buy out every other team in the Premiership and have done with it ?  Our only hope lies in an oil drought, Putin being overthrown, that other Russian oil bloke getting out of jail and Roman getting put away.  Anyone know any Russian revolutionaries ? (Anyone reading this from the KGB – I’m only joking).

As David ‘Bitter not me’ Pleat thanks for your usual snide comments you were on your way out anyway and had been at the club for 5 years where we won one trophy. Chelsea can also mark down another achievement this season - that of Spurs and Arsenal fans uniting on one subject.

How much they hate Chelsea.
 
Rant over I’m going for a lie down.

Dave Harris

Although Arnesen was the man who discovered Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, etc.  He brought to Tottenham Edson Silva and Dougie Bakari.

OK, so Reto Zeigler has been a revelation, but the likes of Space Dilveski and David Limbersky, haven't worked out. When you have the player turnover we have had in the last year, law of averages would dictate you dig up the odd star. Most of his signings have been no-brainers. Mendes was a European cup winner, Carrick was wanted by everyone, Andy Reid was scouted by David Pleat.

So lets not get carried away! We have made the mistake in the past of labelling people as indispensable. But after Hoddle came Gascoigne, Lineker came Sheringham, Campbell came King.  Someone will replace Arnesen if they need to.

Getting the best players is one thing, making them a team is another. Let us not forget that Martin Jol is the star of the show, and has said he is happy to stay.

Lets not become bitter like Southampton, we all know where they ended up. Lets not go running to the FA a la Rupert Lowe to grass up the big bullies.  That got boring really quickly.  Yes Arnesen is a loss. But lets focus on what we have, instead of moaning about what we should have.

Altogether now ...

Martin Jol, Martin Jol, Martin, Martin Jol. He's got no hair, but we don't care. Martin, Martin Jol!

Paul Boshier

It is typical "new money".  No style.  No class. 

Much like some of their football this season.

Route One.  No negotiating through the channels.  Just go straight for what you want and cut out the middle man.

Their new club motto ...

"Chelsea No Evil. Chelshear No Evil.  Chelspeak No Evil."

But in reality, everyone else knows that they are evil.

Barry Levington

For Shaun Livingston's take on events, click here.

Hello all,

I am severely p***ed off with Chelsea for stealing Father Frank, but it could work out well for us.  The likes of Forssell, Parker and Carlton Cole would be welcome additions to our talented but thin squad.  I'm especially keen on Parker, who is a superior player to Michael Brown, and could fit in nicely alongside any one of Mendes, Carrick and Davis. 

Forssell would be a direct replacement for Keano, who's clearly intent on a move to Celtic and the Mickey Mouse league.
Cole is big, strong, quick and a better long-term bet than the unreliable Kanoute.
I doubt that we'll get all 3 but Chelsea will want to keep us sweet somehow.

As Pleat said, it all stinks a little bit, how we saved Arnesen from retirement, allowing him to establish his reputation over here only for him to abandon us.  But the harsh truth is that he'll be gone soon and we're in good enough shape to continue the progress made under Jol.  

We don't need a new director.  All we need in is Routledge, Parker and Forssell, with Bunjevcevic, Mido, Naybet, Brown, Atouba, Pamarot, Jackson and Keane all to exit.
Case closed. It's good to be back!

Sean Jackson

Not sure you're looking for contributions to this debate but got to add my 2 cents worth...

We're playing this all wrong !

Should have been principled and gone straight to the FA with our grievance instead of pussyfooting about over money. As Tony Blair or George Dubya will tell you:

DON'T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS

Max

Just a word or two about the recent goings on (maybe I should have submitted it to 'I Was There').

What Keith Burkinshaw said about "there used to be a football club over there" has been well documented, but what I personally recall is that at the end of the 1983 or 1984 season he walked out into the middle of the pitch to address everyone, home and away fans, and said 'It's YOU the fans that count'.  

Not any longer it isn't, nor then, nor ever in fact and Keith was no doubt resigned to this.  A measure of football's 'progress', if I take my eye off the ball, Irving Scholar almost seems to be one of the good guys for a few moments before it all comes flooding back !

It's all part of being a Spurs fan and I should be used to it after nearly four decades, but some berks never learn.  

I come from south-west London originally and support Tottenham because the Friday before the 1967 Cup Final everyone at school was lined up in the playground and interrogated by the seniors about their footballing loyalties.  With self-preservation uppermost in most people's minds there was near unanimous support for Chelsea.  But my best mate was known to come from the Tottenham area, defiantly declared his N17 loyalty and was promptly duffed up.  Being a quixotic idiot who'd seen too many stiff-upper-lip British war films, I followed suit and got a pummelling.  Nevertheless I was convinced I had done the right thing. 

On Saturday though I started to think that maybe the bully boys (the playground ones then and the Stamford Bilge ones now) had won out in the end. 

But then I reflected on past times. 

Rougvie, Bumstead, Droy, Britton versus Hoddle, Gilzean, Mabbutt, Ardiles.  Now who's the winner ?  

That's the past sorted ! 

The present ? 

We've got the best manager and squad of players in years - WITHOUT buying up anyone that could conceivably pose a threat. 

That leaves the future. 

The future is blue, NAVY blue.

Elfrid

At First ... "A Bottom of the Stomach Pit Sensation"... four days later ... after scouring the Spurs Sites and latterly MEHSTG ... a "Refreshing, Optimistic Outlook" ...

Might I recommend the thoughts posted on MEHSTG to bring a level-headed and perceptive view on the ''Leaving of Arnesen''... not to be confused with a famous TV series based on a scouserside locale ...

Having read the angst on Spurs Community (I suppose you can mention other good sites as it is generally a thoughtful Post Board) you could certainly become somewhat depressed at the trend of Football and our Club as well ... greed, disloyalty, avarice, in no particular order after all apparently in Russia everyman has his price ??? Well, it's not always the case ... Paul Robinson (hurrah!!!).

Alas. Begone.  A refreshing visit to MEHSTG tonight puts it all in perspective ... woes are sated, dire thoughts are banished ... the progressive revolution at WHL will continue ... to highlight but one of the illuminatory sparks ... pardon the editing of what was said but in short form ... what did Arnesen do thus far that was particularly insightful as regards incoming players, say apart from Ziegler, but certainly no Ronaldos.  So, he goes from an upper echelon post to a semi also ran at Chelsea ... albeit well paid.

Much more in an erudite style is recounted on the MEHSTG post-board section ... some great uplifting reading ...

This piece was born out of initial anger at arrogance which subsided into a reaffirmation of why you would not want Abramovich at your club despite his many millions or is that billions ... who cares !!!  Better to get there honestly and morally than "Oops, I don't know the boy ... I was in Italy on that day" and certainly not "managing" to incline on a couch with others in a prominent London Hotel with the said boy.  Mind you, good on Arse for going through the hard yards of lodging the official complaint and all the complication that entails.  Even given the insignificant fines, yes it was worth it, because others will do likewise and at some stage a somnolent FA will finally wake up to salvage a great game.

Hey ... sorry about the extended mileage of what was meant to be a quick dash to the bottle-shop but when the Flag fell having put pen to keyboard to pass on some thoughts on why THFC is on the right track ... (I obviously got stuck on the M25 behind a large Croatian driven double-decker travelling at high octane speed ... a driver who last slept 73 hours ago) ... we are wholeheartedly on track.  I don't know who does his PR, if anyone, but a certain MJ certainly knows how to rally the troops (players and fans alike).  Methinks a greater loss could have been ... after all it was Man U who initially chased him a little while ago.  Thus, with MJ, who is the player conduit on a day to day basis, there is little to fuss about.

Can I but to return to the original spark for these musings .. after an initial kick in the guts with the Arnesen news, it is really but a transient paragraph in our rise and rise ... don't believe me ... read the previously referred to great posts on MEHSTG. 

Hoddle 10 (Couldn't manage but God could he play)

To me this is a great example of people thinking they are bigger than the game.

Spurs will get along without Arnesen.

Football has got along without Chelsea being successful for fifty years.

Tottenham will make sure that they continue building and attempting to go in the right direction with Martin Jol, one of the best manager's we have had in a while.

The FA Premier League need to take Chelsea down a peg or seven.

I know it will not happen, but with the money available to them any fine is a waste of time, so what the FAPL need to do is to make them hurt.

Make them miss out on the Champions League for two seasons.

Make them start the next two seasons with a 12 point deduction.

Then we will see how good Mourniho is ... if he wants to stay there.
We will see if he is the Special One.

We will see how much the players want to play for Chelsea.
Or will they just chase glory with another club.

And we will see how Roman Abramovich likes the taste of his own medicine.
He might get fed up with this particular toy and bog off to another club/league/sport.

I know the legal implications prevent the FAPL taking such draconian steps, but only something like that would stop the Arrogant Blues from destroying any semblance of fair play and the game we love.

East Stan 

Dear MEHSTG,

This whole affair 'STINKS', let me explain why:

Firstly, to have a club like Chelsea behaving like they can 'tap up' anyone without playing by the rules, is not only worrying for us Spurs fans, but for all fans who expect their club to behave within the framework set out by the Premier League Association and the Football League Association.

Secondly, to have our chairman Daniel Levy behaving like an 'Arthur Daley', and actually sitting down with these people (Kenyon etc) and trying to extract players and cash is systematic of the 'greed culture' of Premiership Football today.  As David Pleat commented: 'There is no loyalty in football today.'

If Levy is so sure that Chelsea have acted inappropriately, then take them to the Premier League Association and let them 'throw the book' at Chelsea.  They will have to set a precedent, after all Chelsea have been found guilty over the 'Cole affair', and their punitive actions will be closely monitored by UEFA and FIFA.

I cannot see any kudos in Levy portraying our club as a 'let's take them for all we can get' club and we are being made to look extremely churlish over this affair the longer it drags on.
Yours Sincerely

Paxton Mark

The fall out from the Chelsea/ Arnesen affair has put a black cloud over our shoots of recovery that has taken place last season.

To conduct a review of last season, which in the main was very positive has been over shadowed by this somewhat sleazy way of conducting business.

The rights and the wrongs of this can be debated on all sides.  Do you class a Sporting director (or a player as in the Ashley Cole) as a employee or as an asset to the club.

Both can be argued, but I suspect that the legality of contracts will determine that Arnesen (and Cole) are employees, and will not afford the current employer legal benefits of another company trying to obtain an assert.

An asset will have more protection from the current "owner" than the employee.

As such a notice period is in Arnesen contract which he has the legal right to invoke at any time.

However, the game of association Football has rules and code of conducts that should be observed so that you can participate in the competition.

It is in this area that CFC fall down on.

Regardless of the fact they have allegedly broken these rules and are allegedly conducting business in an immoral fashion, seems to have little impact on the charges at the Premier league who seem to want to hide in a corner until the storm goes away.

Fundamentally all employees should have the rights to talk to any employer and potential employer at any time.

There is nothing illegal in Cole or Arnesen seeking employment if they so choose, much the same as your or I can. We can all apply for and go on interviews while we are still employed.

The difference is that if you are a senior executive for a company and you go to a rival company in the same position you implicitly take all the knowledge and details of your current employer to your new job.

And this is what makes the whole Arnesen affair stick in the throat. It was us that gave him a job when he was thinking of retiring from PSV it is us who have raised his profile, so that he can be given a vast improvement in terms.

It is us that have bank-rolled his spending spree and gambling on many many players. Some if not the majority may not make the grade.  For every diamond he has bought there have been some duds.

Please don't interpret this as sour grapes.  I would certainly wish for the current roles and structure to be in place.  Jol and Arnesen seem to have a good working relationship with defined roles.  They work well together.

It is difficult to see it working well with a British director of football.  We may well look abroad if we fill the vacancy.  However, one name that could be thrown in the frame is Bobby Robson.  He has status respect and may not interfere too much in the playing side, as he has also worked with a director of football on many occasions.

In conclusion of this affair we need to get as much compensation as possible.  Daniel Levy should go for £10 million. It is unrealistic, but they may well meet at lot higher than excepted.

Lets be honest.  Money means nothing to CFC.  They could be docked 30 points and still finish in the top four.

All that can happen is that we become a pain in the arse.  And who needs a pain in the arse.

Arnesen may not have done anything illegal, but he certainly has not conducted himself with any moral high ground.

So, I have taken up much of your time dear reader and I look forward to another season of building us back up and progression in the league.

A few more players in, a few out and if we can keep the buzz about the place we will go places.

Paul Lamoureaux

I think Levy should do what is best for our club.  If he reported it to the FA Premier League, they would not do what is best for the game, so let's be quite parochial about it and feather our our nest from Chelsea's misdemeanour.

By his actions, Arnesen has not covered himself in glory in this affair.  

And don't forget, as the man said "The game is about Glory."

Come on you Spurs

The Funky Phantom

We should take the money/players from Chelsea. Docking them points will only help Man Ure and Arse.

Dangerous Dave

The latest news that Tottenham are asking for £15 million for compensation from Chelsea for Frank Arnesen has been treated as a bit of a joke in some quarters.

Spurs are being seen as money grabbing opportunists, cashing in on Chelsea's arrogance in not following accepted procedure.

But looking at the case realistically, Arnesen was brought in to build Tottenham up into a club who would challenge for trophies and get into Europe on a regular basis ... something that FA himself said he could see happening in the next couple of years.

So, taking this into account, the fact that he is leaving before the job is finished, what exactly will it cost Spurs in potential earnings from not getting those European places and missing out on the players who might take us to that level ?

If you reckon on £20 million per season in the Champions League, then, personally, I think that £15 million means that Chelsea will be getting sweet FA on the cheap.

Sam Lowry

Dear Wyart

My last word on this affair - honest - though I didn't expect it to be dragging on into a third week so maybe it's not !  My instinctive reaction was make the rotters pay, report them, make sure they lose points or something. (Best idea I saw somewhere was to give their place in the 'Champion's' League to Liverpool ... though personally I think it should have gone to the party that was directly damaged, heh-heh).  But the FA (Football Association, Frank Arnesen, what else could it stand for) were already making their excuses on the Saturday afternoon the story broke and it was obvious they would do as little as possible.  Levy did (is doing) the thing he is paid to do - what is best for THFC. I was all indignant at first, Spurs had right on their side etc, until I remembered that a couple of weeks earlier on the official website the club had been trying to flog off a load of old stock by jumping on the fan-led 'wear something white' bandwagon.  Money is all-important in football and as such Arnesen's actions while not laudable are understandable.  This became all the clearer when I read the following in Private Eye today, which prompted me to write to MEHSTG:

The Observer was cock-a-hoop about its exclusive interview last Sunday with footballer of the moment, Ashley Cole. But the feature nearly fell through.

Cole had initially agreed to do the interview on the proviso that the Obs kitted him out in a Prada suit. No problems there until he said that he wanted to keep the suit and asked the newspaper to take care of the matter. Prada wasn't prepared to play ball so editors were left frantically asking favours from  other designers to keep the arsenal [my omission of capital letter] footballer happy. He eventually walked off with a £1,000 suit from Paul Smith.

Ashley Cole earns £50,000 a week. In his Observer photo last weekend he wore not only the suit but a wristband proclaiming...Make Poverty History.

All right, it's an Arse player and that, but it could easily have been another player at another club.  Anyway I had just read that when I got home and found out that Steve Bruce is 'devastated' that he's been thwarted in signing Lee Bowyer by a section of the fans.  Is money THAT important ?  Apparently so to the people that run football.

Best Regards
Elfrid

Dear Wyart

DEFINITELY my last word on this whole sorry, sordid saga. 

He's an astute and intelligent bloke and has put this tosh out to placate somebody or other.  Surely he knows that nobody at Spurs believes it was always being at the back of the queue rather than the prospect of loadsadosh that prompted him to go to Stamford Bilge.  Only an idiot would believe him ... so maybe it is meant for the FA.  

He was brought in to help put us nearer the head of that queue - that was an integral part of his job - at every job I've gone for I've had a fair idea what the salient bits were and I just can't believe that Levy, an intelligent and astute businessman whatever you may think of him, omitted this from the job description

... Be a hoot if we get Saviola ahead of the Arse now.

Best Regards
Elfrid

Arnesen's comments just make him look like a mug.

If he really believes the things he says, then he must be naive in the extreme and I fear for what will happen to him at Chelski, where you have to watch your back for the night of the flying knives.  

His job at Chelski is nothing more than a babysitter and he will soon be whingeing about it not being fulfilling and he wants to be buying real players ... not just kids.

But then he will look at the huge stack of cash sitting in the corner of his room and remember that he has to keep his mouth shut or it will disappear ... just like his credibility.

Joe Nash

Some people are just unbelievable.

What is Arnesen trying to say ?  That he didn't know that Spurs were not top of the league and winning the Champions League every year ?  That there was an unlimited budget for singing players above every other club in the world ?  That Spurs were obliged to let him walk out on them just because he felt like it ?

Where does Arnesen get off ?

Hopefully he will be fully contented in his new role at Chelsea bringing in cheap talent at the youth end of the market.  Who will want to go and try to break past Ronaldinho and Shevchenko, when they can play regularly elsewhere ?

He will really have a job on his hands then !!

Steve, Ponders End

Hello all,

I must say that I wasn't peaved at all by Frank's comments in the NOTW.  In fact, me and the family had a good laugh at it because he came off looking like a twat.

By saying that we can't get good players reeks of ignorance. Look at the evidence.

Michael Carrick, a player that Wenger had viewed as a serious replacement for Vieira, until she decided not to go to Real Madrid.  That's how potentially good Carrick is.

Then we have Pedro Mendes, a man that has UEFA & European Cup winners medals.  Is he not a good player, Frank ?  What about Paul Robinson, the best keeper in the land, a man that was signed BEFORE Frank came to Spurs.  Defoe chose us, rather than waiting for a move to a bigger club, perhaps.  Reto Ziegler is a bloody good player, who AC Milan were looking at before us.  

Oh dear, Frank...made a bit of an arse of yourself, didn't you pal.

Perhaps what he meant to say was that Spurs are not quite ready to attract the superstars to WHL.  Names like Figo, Zidane, Nedved, Davids, Van Bommel and Rosicky.  But then again, who can attract those sorts of players ? 

I didn't hear Van Bommel or Figo clamouring for a move to Highbury, Man Utd or even Chelski !

So, we are hardly at the back of the queue, but Chelski are at the front when it comes to giving me belly laughs.

Sean Jackson