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Awesome Dawson = Captain Marvel?

With the retirement of Ledley King, Andre Villas-Boas will need a new leader, and apparently Michael Dawson could be at the top of his list of options.



What will confuse many Tottenham fans, is that they expect to see Dawson struggle to command a regular starting place over Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen, but is the new role being based upon a Club captain as opposed to a team leader, which can perhaps be rotated depending on who is playing, which the overall leadership in the dressing room, training pitch and for the media, more important than who is in charge on a Saturday (or whenever) afternoon?



If we look at other viable candidates, perhaps the same applies to many of them. Scott Parker, is currently injured and could be for the first month or so of the season, and even then, he might be facing a battle to play every game, with the likes of Sandro and several others probably fighting for two, maybe three places. Perhaps if AVB looks to bring in his former player Joao Moutinho, a player who knows his game and speaks his language, literally.



Others such as William Gallas will have the same problem, and of course both he and our No14 could be out of the club, so therefore out of contention. Of the others, I see Youness Kaboul as being next in line behind Dawson and Parker, though that may chance, once Jan Vertonghen (or Moutinho) beds himself in, but would it be sensible to promote a new boy over others in what is already a happy and well oiled dressing room? Rahael Van der Vaart might fancy the job and he has captaincy experience to compare with all the other candidates, but is his medium to long term Spurs career secure and does he have the selfless character that a manager wants?



As fans we have campaigned for rotation of the squad, and therefore perhaps a playing captain isn't the vital thing it once was. Many foreign manager don't actually like the old school 'pin them up against the wall' type of leader, preferring a more cultured approach, but also to maintain that greater control themselves. Today, having a club captain is as important for media events than to wear the armband on the pitch.



In the case of Dawson, he is clean cut, intelligent, seems to have the respect and popularity in the dressing room and despite not being seen as a definite starter, he remains a well liked player with the fans. Perhaps we will see Dawson get the nod for the official functions, but then have a pecking order along the lines of (2) Parker, (3) Kaboul, (4) VdV, (5) Vertonghen and so on. To some it might seem overly complicated, but I suppose it is only a problem is there is a divided or unhappy dressing room and based on that idea alone, going for a safe and popular pair of hands, is better than anything else and though I can see real merit in looking to Parker, I can also see a call for Dawson is a sensible longer term decision...




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Writer: OxfordSpur Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Wednesday July 25 2012

Time: 2:16PM

Your Comments

First and foremost we need all of the players back to asses all of their leadership qualities, like Sandro?
Spurs Allday
i think First choice has to be daws ;D great leader great guy
WulfSpurs
dammit allday... i really thought i had it...
WulfSpurs
Will he be allowed to toss up before the game and then take his seat on the bench?
spu 4 life
Milking it a bit now aren't we Ox?

Spuds-U-Like
Lloris is captain of France. Give it to him...or haven't we signed him yet?
bish-10
Shouldn't it be Captain Marvel?
bish-10
lol Spu, Ill be surprised if Dawson gets named Captain, as i thought Vertoghen and Kaboul would be first choice CB's, Kaboul and Dawson doesn't work.
Ossie
No bish, if it was, Ox would be skimmed for it & powdered with with even more milk jokes!

Spuds-U-Like
Daws might not even make the team ...... he is prone to losses of concentration and to belting the ball out of defence. I think he's a great club man, but I would go for Parker if he was fit and in the team. My take on this situation is to pick the eleven best players, and then decide the captain on that basis. And, since I hope AVB will practise rotation of the squad we really need at least one deputy for the post.
TommyHarmer
Does seem a strange choice considering where the fans are placing Michael Dawson in the CB pecking order. I would have no fear if he were the CLUB Captain but Team Captain I have issues with. Last year Ledley (how we will miss you) was Captain when playing and then the armband was shared around. My choice would have been Jan Vertongham who has vast experience being Captain of Ajax.
Andre's Crouching
I would be happy for Dawson to get the Captaincy he's loyal, vocal and actually cares if we win or lose. Starting CBs should be Daws and Vert until Vert feels comfortable enough to tell Kaboul what to do in defence when he's partnered with him.
As for Bassong how is he still here?!
Rapm
I like the list you put forward...and if Dawson can stay fit i would imagine he is well up there as a candidate for the role. But how many games will he play? When he does...sure give it to him, if its early enough in the season. But imo we really need a regular starter/key player given the band....Parker same applies.... Tough one now that King has gone..... Vert needs time to mold into the squad but he should be the man eventually. If we get a new commanding Goalie i would say him....but he needs time like Vert...and hes not even signed for us yet. Need more time to decide me thinks.....
SpursOne2
We surely have to pick someone who is gonna play every week. Benny it is.
micyid
Why have we 6 Centre Backs and only one striker still...!!!???
TopSpur13
I'm confused and scared now.
Jables
Rotation rotation rotation...Sick of hearing it... At most, our players played one or two more games than those who practice rotation... Is it a major difference? Players like Silva, evra Sagna Rooney all hardly ever get rotated barring cup games. Those teams that do rotate try to get away with weaker sides, and we Spurs would get beat if we try that. Captain should play around forty games for you.
TonyRich
I think people are jumping the gun a bit in assuming that Vertonghan and Kaboul will be first choice. Villas-Boas' comments show that he rates Daws highly, and appreciates his position within the club. He'd be my choice.
spursgirl_4_life
Parker capt, Daws vice capt. Vertonnghen and Freidel are capable captains in their absence. Kaboul not ready. The others too young or do not want it.
TonyRich
Spursgirl speaks true, it seemeth me that Dawson will be a fill in if Vertonghen and The Bull are injured
PERTH OZSPUR
What exactly is the responsibility of a club captain these days. Used to be that the captain bought the first round of pints at the pub after a match, but with the fitness coaches, etc., that function isn't allowed anymore is it? So what exactly does this fellow do these days?
Total knobhead
Topspur we could always find a place for him up front, good ol fashion centre forward and then just lump it to him. I hear newcastle are in for remy. We need to get a move on and get in a Strker or two before the season starts in a few weeks. Considering we lost out on CL football by a point or two, it's absolutely vital we give ourselves the best possible( a striker) chance to pick up points, starting with Newcastle. Let's hope Ade joins before the season starts.
strawboy
Ooops, misread that. I think Dawson, as much as I like him, might be fighting with Vertonghen for his place.
PERTH OZSPUR
But surely by making Dawson Cap it would mean he would be first choice CB ahead of who Vert? no, Kaboom? Surely not?? So who else would fit the mould, VDv? Possible my obvious choice would be Parker but does that mean hes not part of the regular line up for the new look AVB side?? IsmDaws not just captain for pre season???
Whitehart Lad
I'm literally just after submitting an article about this very subject!! lol

In my opinion, Dawson is an uninspired choice. He's been Vice captain for ages now and (discounting Defoe as he joined Pompey for a year) is our longest serving player...signing along with Huddlestone in January 2005. However, he's not a leader of men, in fact it's often been said that Dawson needs a leader playing alongside him. He's a great Centre Back certainly, quick and technically very good for a stopper and as good as anyone in the air but even then, will he start ahead of Vertonghen and Kaboul?

I can see only 3 choices. Brad Friedel, Scott Parker or Rafa Van Der Vaart. No one is more experienced than big Brad and if we fail to sign a new keeper, is the perfect choice for the 12/13 season in my book. Scotty Parker leaves every inch of himself on the pitch and even without the arm band, leads by example. He was also named England captain ealier this year. Rafa is more vocal and more experienced at the very top level than anyone in our squad, he's in an akwad position on the pitch to be captaining the side but we've seen Lampard and Gerard both do it successfully in the past.

Shouts for Vertonghen, Bale and Kaboul are too premature for me.
KierzoSBC
Dawson is not good enough to be in the starting 11 let alone make him captain .I have enough respect fro the guy but he just doesn`t cut it however much we want him to .He is too often a liability & compared to other EPL great defenders ,he falls short in terms of overall class & talent .Great heart & spirit but he needs more than just that if you want be a top 4 player .

I love Dawson but kaboul gets my vote for captain ,with Sandro vice captain .I expect Sandro to play alot more than parker next season .
Parker looks like he`s been on the pi$$ all night & slept in a hedge .
big cockeral
Quick and technically very good?? Are you talking about Dawson 4real??, I do think if Dawson starts he should be captain, but Im hoping he don't start, so I guess (and I'm not keen on it) Parker would be the only real choice.
Ossie
can anyone shed any light on bale having the no.9 shirt? i can understand new signings having a different number in pre-season to what they will actually use until we confirm squads but surely bale would only be using 9 if its for keeps
Boom Boom Boom!
How people can vote Bale and Vertonghen over Scott Parker is just baffling. Even if he only has 1 or 2 top years left in him, Scott Parker has to be the stand out candidate. Hes the model professional and has age and experience to boot. Vertonghen hasnt even kicked a ball for us yet! And Bale is 22 we should let him get on with his game. It has to be Scott Parker
HuddersfieldYiddo
Well he had number 3 last year and he played midfield all season.....
SpursOne2
Friedel isn't going to be first choice this season, Parker doesn't shout he leads by example but we need words aswel, Vdv is too arrogant/selfish. Kaboul lacks concentration, Bale is too young/shouldn't be distracted from running down the wing and Vert is too new.
Rapm
I would have Parker but will he play as much next season? Surely its him or Sandro for the spot on the pitch??. He is commanding and has experience but i don't see him on the pitch as much as Vert.....Maybe AVB wants to see our players with the armband...on the pitch to make a full assessment as well.
SpursOne2
For a Centre Back Ossie, he is. He's not one of these brick wall sort of centre backs who are good at getting in the way and nothing else. Like Michael Turner for example, that boy's not a footballer...he's a security guard with football boots on. Daws is decent with the ball at his feet and has the ability to launch acurate(ish) passes the length of the field of needs be. I've also seen him chase down winger and strikers at full pelt so he's no slouch. That said though, I'm totally with you in hoping we go with Vert and Kaboul at the back.
KierzoSBC
Rapm - so who would you prefer?
KierzoSBC
Watch out Spurs Allday & WulfSpurs Oxfordspur is on the "1st" warpath again. Your posts will probably be deleted before the day is out.

Its OK to call someone on here a fecking (unt & give them dogs abuse on a personal level, but its not OK to say "1st, first," or any other derivation, should your post just happen to be at the top of the pile. The hypocrisy of this is breathtaking & we should all be angry about it.

I was accused of being over the top when I likened this censorship to the Stasi, but this proves that it was not an exaggeration. There was nothing in my post that could've be construed as mindless childishness & in fact the only childishness with today's actions is by Oxfordspur is his deletion of them. All this just to appease a couple of moaners with a sense of humour bypass who won't allow others to have a little bit of fun. Maybe its time to get another moderator, this ones getting too politically correct by allowing the minority view to over-ride that of the vast majority. That's not his job & he should remember that.
<>br>I will NOT be silenced in this way & you should ALL take note of what is happening to VS.

Spuds-U-Like
Luka Modric training with the under 21`s .HA HA Ratman .
They should put him with the under 12`s
big cockeral
He's not a guaranteed starter so it doesn't seem sensible to make him captain I'm afraid.
SpuriousLife
My apologies for the typo's, but I'm fecking ANGRY!!!

Spuds-U-Like
Kierzo -> I would prefer Dawson as captain with the starting back four to be made up of Walker, Dawson, Vert, BAE.
Rapm
After Vert has settled into the team I would be happy for Kaboul/Vert pairing to start with Vert taking over the captain role.
Rapm
Spuds just don't type first its simple or start a new game the person who posts last wins. :) cheer up bud.
Rapm
Dawson for cup games (when he is likely to play). VDV or Friedel for the league games. Then in a years time Vertonghen for the rest of his career ;) I heard Parker isn't vocal whilst playing so I would worry about him. He plays like a captain but needs to be vocal.
MrPaddytheyid
AVB will choke bad. We are doomed.
RagingSpur
Nice bit of encoragement there raging!! Good to see you are right behind him before we even kick the first ball!! Not related to HR are you?
woodyn17
RagingSpur - Ha lets hope not mate.
SpursOne2
We really need someone to step up and take the bull by the horns as far as Captaincy....Maybe this move will Spur others on if they think they are good enough for the job.
SpursOne2
I hear you're uncertainty over Vertonghen Rapm but believe me when I say, this guy is world class. I rate him so much, I would say that Dawson will be competing with Kaboul for a starting spot and Jan's name will be first on the team sheet along with Gareth Bale. The issue I have with Dawson is that even if he was a certainty to start, I have my doubts over whether or not Daws is a big enough personality to guide the 9 other players ahead of him...he's always struggled when playing alongside less experienced players.
KierzoSBC
So you're OK with censorship then are you Rapm?

Whether its simple to avoid being deleted for it or not, thats not the point mate, its out of order to delete any of these sorts of posts whilst allowing high levels of personal abuse to go unchallenged by the site moderator. As I said, its hypocrisy, pure & simple.

Spuds-U-Like
How can people be calling for Sandro to be captain? Obviously he's a good laugh but he's still not the full settled article. Plenty to learn yet. I'm with you Spuds - dont let the man drag you down!
micyid
Everyone struggle when Bassong is on the pitch.
Rapm
This is true Rapm lol. However, it has always been part of Dawson's make up that he needs guidance alongside him.
KierzoSBC
You get your jokes at me right now because I will be very right about AVB. I know its just a friendly vs LA but Bentley, Lennon on the left, and Bale on the right for long strings of the match. I mean its not that I want to take much from a friendly because thats all it is but I never expected him to do anything but fail as it is. I don't need to be thrilled with AVB! I didn't want him in the 1st place and no HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO MAKE ME RESPECT HIM. He has not done a thing to get my respect. So I don't mind trashing him and looking like a fool :) but I will say what I think.
RagingSpur
RagingSpur - Are you serious? You've spent the last 2 years putting us down and generally spreading your brand of deperession because of Harry Redknapp. Now he's gone, we've goone and appointed Harry's polar opposite and here you are, still not happy, complaining and putting us down...before a ball has been kicked in anger!! WTF?!!
KierzoSBC
Vertonghen, after Howedes, is, IMO, the second best young CB we could have gotten. It's going to take time but he is a top player and I thought looked pretty good last night. COYS
peterballb
micyid - Totally agree re: Sandro. Top bloke, great player but completely incomprehensable when speaking!! Sandro speaking English sounds like me speak Cow...
KierzoSBC
Just as a warning to all, peterballb will be in the capital, and hopefully at the games between August 24 and September 2. Italianyiddo, are you out there? Anyone got a pair of tickets for West Brom they can't use? COYS
peterballb
I think RagingSpur is Raging cos the Tampon is cemented up his crack permantantly Kierzo...
JattYid
I think we should just pick a random number and give it to them. Hold on a sec as I pick a number at random..... it's number 14. Now who's that?
In-spurs-ational
RagingSpur
Your argument about AVB will stand up if you believe that Spurs should have given the £15 million long term contract Harry Redknapp was after .
There was no middle ground ,sack him or give him a long term deal putting him on a wage par with ferguson , Mourinho & Wenger .

AVB may not have been everyones choice but he was the best option .Harry left Levy no choice .You don`t give people like harry long term deals & the club in their hands .Have you seen Portsmouth ? close to extinction .Mandaric & Harry together ruined that club ,glad he`s gone .
big cockeral
Spuds let it go man, we had that discussion last week.

Also it's a bit old skool saying captains needs to be vocal, King wasn't. A Captain is someone who leadsby example and has the respect of his teammates, regardless if he shouts and hollas.
Ossie
Talking of Portsmouth, I hear Harry is trying to "save the club" by asking Kanu to accept a lower wage
In-spurs-ational
Thing is, if we are going to be rotating the squad, shouldn't we be looking at two captains. If so we could give it to Daws and someone else as well.
In-spurs-ational
Ox - Let the 1st thing go on. It encourages users to be more active. I must admitt that numpty yiddyboy probably overdone it with the whole copy and paste a sonet bollox.
RyanHotSpur
In-spurs-ational - Honestly if i was AVB i would approach Modric with the captaincy. If he leaves i'd be quite tempted to give it to VDV or even Bale.
RyanHotSpur
"However, he's not a leader of men, in fact it's often been said that Dawson needs a leader playing alongside him." - IMO, that's complete rubbish.
spursgirl_4_life
KierzoSBC - Well at least we can say that Raging is consistent ha. Isn't that right RagingSpur?? - I don't like playing mystic meg.....but what the hell...... AVB be a success for Spurs, the fans and will stick it up the chavs bum.
SpursOne2
I didn't want AVB plain and simple. I don't think he is ready for this club and I think he is going to be a huge setback for us. I don't think he will have a Ramos flop but I do not have faith in him maintaining the HR success or as some call it lack of. I think this was a huge step back and regardless if HR wasn't the guy to take us forward I don't believe AVB is any better and a far bigger risk.
RagingSpur
RyanHotSpur, as a tactic for keeping him, I'd say it was a good idea. However I don't feel the other team members may approve and it may have a negative effect on the squad
In-spurs-ational
To late now matey....what are you going to do?
SpursOne2
I don't mind if AVB is successful and some seem to forget that I root for the same team as you all but I don't have to agree with everything. I will stick it to Chelsea if we find the "gem" they didn't get to keep but it's far more likely that we will get a told you so and the media will never let us loose this year.
RagingSpur
Absolutely BC - AVB was not my choice but I believe he's got the potential to be a very good one. The only worry I have is he fondness of the high back line and the zonal marking on set pieces but I'm happy to hope that his time at Chelsea has taught him that the English game doesnt suit those particular methods.

One of the biggest critcisms of Redknapp was his supposed tactical ineptness and lack of preperation but in Villas-Boas we have one of the real pioneers of football theory. Like Wenger and Mourinho, he's a phylosopher and work-aholic. At this moment in time, regardless of whether he was your particular first choice or not...if you were one of those campaigning for Rednapp's sacking, and RagingSpur was...you dont have the right to criticise AVB.

RagingSpur - If we're sitting with 2 points after 10 games then fair enough, beat away...but until then, keep your "HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO MAKE ME RESPECT HIM" nonsense to yourself.
KierzoSBC
Ryan Modric wants to leave to win things, refused to travel on tour, surely that's no reward for Captaincy, also if he wants to leave can't see having the captain's armband is going to make him want to stay.
Ossie
I think we all knew your thoughts before your last post, raging. Let's hope for our club's sake that AVB is able to change your mind by having us play well. As for me, I'm optimistic at this point.
Total knobhead
I will not let it go Ossie. The whole nature of the 1st post changed after Oxfordspur's article on 11th July about it. I'm quite happy about that, believe it or not. We no longer get the celebratory "1st!" postings we used to get, we've had some clever ones & we now get some that at least look like proper posts. In fact Oxfordspur even praised one of them! All I did today was post "Uninspired? Well, thats a first.", on the uninspired article & it was deemed worthy of deletion by our "fair minded" moderator.

You seriously have to ask where it will end. Will we be banned for responding to other posters because our response wasn't article related? Will we be banned for going "off topic"? You might think I'm merely scaremongering, but its not beyond the realms of possibility.

Wonder how long my rant about this will be allowed to stay up?

Spuds-U-Like
spursgirl_4_life - You're entitled to think so but this is a long standing criticism of Dawson. In previous year we've seen Dawson struggle alongside Kaboul, Bassong, Rocha etc...it's no concidence that over the last two seasons, Dawson's best displays have come when he's had King or Gallas alongside him.
KierzoSBC
RagingSpur - You don't rate the guy, that's fair enough, but let's be honest he didn't exactly have a fair shot at Chelsea.

Spurs doesn't need as many major changes to the squad as Chelsea did so let's see how he handles a whole season at Spurs before we write him off completely.

After his first season he'll have a whole transfer window to make any major changes to the squad. That is when i EXPECT good signings and when i EXPECT to see results. We had this conversation the other day however, and we don't see eye to eye on a suitable time frame for the man to do great things.

Harry didn't finish top four in his first season so can we at least try give AVB the same time frame (ok a few months longer) before we start writing him off? You're not gonna get any brownie points for saying i told you so down the line, you're just losing face with supporters now.
RyanHotSpur
RagingSpur, I agree that AVB is a bigger risk than Harry. However on the flip side, he has the potential to be better. Time will tell if he will be remembered in the same breath as Nicholson or Gross
In-spurs-ational
What are we censoring? I remember an article about asking people to lay off it a bit, but nothing about we can't do it? If this is the case that we do it and it is taken down, well that is just not fair without a vote, simple.
ledgespur
Ossie - You'd be suprised. I was gonna leave my dart team this season until they decided to make me captain. ;)
RyanHotSpur
"You're not gonna get any brownie points for saying i told you so down the line, you're just losing face with supporters now." - Tremendously put.

I had virtually quit this site about 6 months ago because I was sick of listening to everyone crying their eyes out about Redknapp. I think we could maybe do with a few months of optimism for a change...or at least just a "lets just wait and see" type of attitude.
KierzoSBC
Basically the captain calls the coin toss so we need someone lucky. Injury record suggests Dawson aint lucky. Bentley must be lucky, hes still earning *****loads for doing nothing, thats sounds lucky so Bentley as captain. Sorted.
bish-10
I totally agree with Spuds u like. VOTE ON IT THEN, don't take the matter into your on hands Ox not cool. I like you as our monderator, but that is taking the pi#s
ledgespur
Moderator*
ledgespur
KierzoSBC
Spot on .Lets give the man a chance ,AVB at least deserves that .

Praise & criticism should be given when due .AVB as it stands is due neither .
big cockeral
It is very hard for a new manager to come in and face the press everyday wondering about Luka. He has a tough gig at the moment and i'm sure he will be glad to see the back of Luka. For me he has done a very good deflecting from it at the moment.
ledgespur
Oxfordspur if you're going to censor the race for first then in all fairness you have no choice but to censor the many posts which are filled with obscenities no matter how cleverly disguised. I find those much more offensive than 4 or 5 posters having fun. I don't often get the chance to achieve it because I am not always on my device and I live in a GMT-4 time zone but when the chance comes I take it with relish! I am just asking for consistency. Oh and by-the-way you then have to remove all the posts which have derogatory name calling of players in them. That should make the articles a lot quicker to go through!
jvd
Kaboul simply CANNOT be captain. He needs to be ordered around to get the best out of him. How can his defensive partner tell their captain what they should be doing? Dawson for me, every time. Best leader, best man motivator, longest serving player and current Mr Spurs
Dave the Yid
Raging, could you at least give AVB the benefit of the doubt. If I could hold off a full year before I made a comment about a manager that I have always perceived as a tactical hack with absolutely no pedigree of winning anything, surely you can do the same for someone who won the treble in Portugal and who was mentored by one of the greatest managers of all time. The signings of Fryers, Sigurdsson and Vertonghen surely have to bring you more hope than most of those under Harry.

For the record, AVB was not in my top 5, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Lastly, if you have tickets for the first two home games and can't bear to watch the fiasco, my wife and I would be honoured to suffer. COYS
peterballb
Oh yeah, for captain how about B B B Benny and the jets! BAE plays every game so he must be lucky and he never makes a mistake, always focused! Wouldbe a great leader! ;-)
jvd
OSCAR.................................................................SIGNED!
layorh12
MODRIC.....GONE......OH NO!...ALMOST GONE...LOOOOL!
layorh12
So Chelsea has now confirmed the signing of Oscar
papsy
Lot of peeps making assumptions here. "xxx isn't a regular starter". I thought AVB was the manager, how does anybody on here know who the "regular starters" are?
Hot_Spur
MONTINHO...DREAMS!!...loooool
layorh12
oooh Spuds I didnt realise your post today got deleted, my bad
Ossie
AVB.....REGRETS.......MARK THESE WORDS....WILL REMIND YOU GUYS...BYE! BYE!
layorh12
Who cares about the first thing? Reverse the scrolling from first to most recent and only those who care will check. Whoop di doo Basil. Come on. Let the kids play while the adults talk. COYS
peterballb
Oscar? Big deal. Torres 50m lol
ledgespur
Some criticise the suggestion of Dawson, but lets not forget we have a new manager, with a new formation, and new tactics. It may well be that Dawson has adapted to AVBs tactics more quickly than either Kaboul or Vertoghen in which case he might he higher up the pecking order than people realise. Whilst Kaboul was very good last year, he has previously been a bit of a carthorse and it might be that the Ledley like qualities of Vertoghen have brought the best out of Dawson when paired together in training. Kaboul might have regressed and struggled to adapt to what AVB wants.
kernowboy71
exactly Peter (referring to your post about the first thing)
Ossie
Benny is not Captain material micyid, that is like suggesting motorcycles should have ashtrays. You can't just walk into a team and become captain so that puts Vert out the running... Parker, mmm, I don't see him playing that much TBH... Right now, I'd go wit Daws or VdV.
Cape Town Spurs
Modric, re you F-ing serious? Check English Dictionary, B for betrayal.
Cape Town Spurs
On a separate note, how about a £17m bid for ANDY CARROLL. Only 22, he had a decent strike record at Newcastle but was badly misused by Dalglish. He did however come good towards the end of the season and playing as a No9 in a team with flying wingers and fullbacks he could be a menace. The £35m Liverpool paid clearly had a negative impact so to pick him up for 50% less would be good business. I see him as the sort of player Drogba was when he first came to the Premiership and look how he turned out.
kernowboy71
I would suggest Bale for Captain. I would suggest deleting posts is unnecessary. AVB, if given the resources and time, will be fine. I believe he has a tough task as the dead wood issue has been exacerbated for the past 7 windows. 5 or 6 guys need to be offloaded and then 1 for each person coming in. I also believe that Pienaar and Modric will both be moved along with anyone else who is unhappy. It will not be at a discount though. If, as it seems, there is another 40M bid, that's what RM will have to cough up. Pienaar should be pretty soon and if the RM money does not come in, Luka will remain at Spurs. COYS
peterballb
I give it a year before Vertonghen is our Captain. The bloke is a born leader, with the same unflappable air that Ledley had in his prime. He may already be the best player we have at the club.
thfc1882whl
Seems the 1st debate continues, and good. My personal opinion is that this was one major own goal by Oxford and his censorship committee that would have us all eat and say and read and watch what they say we should. But I digress... Ox, do what so many on here have asked for and hold a poll, and what's more agree to bide by the result, whatever that may be. Anything less is simply a dictatorship and in dictatorships you don't get people's respect. So, what do you say? Put it to the vote.
Cape Town Spurs
Could several people tell me if they think Vertonghen is actually better than Dawson? I have not seen enough of the new lad to make my own judgement. If its debatable i would be mightily miffed if i were Dawson to being overlooked...........
Jocka10
I understand the argument behind "don't censor my 1sts" but lets be blunt, do we really care? So one of you're useless posts got deleted, it's not as if anything worth saying was removed. Keep doing 1st's if you really want, i'm sure Ox won't make it a regular thing to spend all of his time and effort removing them from here on out.
RyanHotSpur
Jocka10 - I couldn't actually say. I heard he has looked pony in the US so far. Dawson was King's understudy and had a fantastic pairing with Bassong at one stage. He is quite Mr. Hotspurs aswell. I'm more than happy for Dawson to be captain, i would assume that means he is first team pick though.
RyanHotSpur
Instead of trying to be the first person to post on an article, why not contribute to the site more and finish top of the members league? Surely that is more of a committed use of the site?
Dave the Yid
RyanHotSpur, i agree he is Mr Hotspur that's why i would be miffed if i were him. We don't need to upset great players like himself especially when he loves the badge. He still makes the odd basic mistake which certainly can be ironed out. He's a cracking no-nonsense defender........tremendous!!!
Jocka10
@ Jocka10... Hi mate, if you can get hold a copy of the Man Utd v Ajax game from last season, give it a watch and you'll see a defensive masterclass that King in his prime would be proud of. I rate Dawson highly as a pofessional and I know he would run through walls for the club but he isn't in the same league as Vertonghen where composure and ability are concerned.
thfc1882whl
I don't think we should post first posts, I think we should all comply, I think everthing would look better painted grey, I think individualism should be eradicated, I think that what the chosen few want is what is best for everyone, I think we should strive to be average and show no creativity in anyway, I think we don't need a vote as this will give voice to radicales who should be eliminated at all costs, I think North Korea is a well ran country with an adequate amount of free speech, I think we should all be video taped at all times to ensure we don't exhibit any signs of individualism, I think I only think what I'm told to think.
Slurms McKenzie
On the censorship debate, WELL DONE OX!! Whilst it was initially amusing, it had become a nonsense and pathetic, with no place on the best forum on Vitalfootball
kernowboy71
Thanks thfc1882, i will try an watch the lad before the new season. If he is as good as you say and we see it on a regular basis then we have another gem on our hands for a snip too in todays football money. I do, dare i say it, hope he left his dummy behind or we could also have more trouble ahead aka the bulgarian and croatian
Jocka10
That's just it Kernow... it was a handful of posts, and for me, and many others, the best forum on vital has dropped a bunch of pegs because of it. Not because it matters, but because it kicked things off with some harmless banter that over 5 or 6 posts led into conversation about the article. In my opinion the fun has gone, and before you say it, yes I know, I'm welcome to F off and not come back and have I seen Vital Arsenal and blah blah blah blah I think I'm going to be sick
Cape Town Spurs
It's not about 1st, it's about the principal, and what I have noticed is that far more characters get typed in the debate since Ox's bout of Orwellian censorship than ever got typed in the lofty days of free speech.
Cape Town Spurs
I would make walker captain, he could be our lahm, leads with example of hard graft every game could be captain for next 10 years plays a lot of games, and seems to not take any ***** of anyone!
Tottingham10
Jocka10.... Vertonghen strikes me as a player who has bought into the project for the long term. If you consider all the drama surrounding the club during the drawn out procedure of signing him, it would have been quite understandable for a troublemaker to have just pulled the plug rather than persevere with the move like he did. As for him siring up trouble and using us as a steping stone to bigger and better. Well that's where the owners come in, it's thir job to make THFC a club that can fulfill the ambitions of the best players. No doubt Veronghen was promised he would be the first of many new faces into the club as e looked to take the next step. If players of quality aren't forthcoming very soon, then he may start to wonder whether there really is a project on the horizon. And who could blame him?
thfc1882whl
@thfc1882whl -- it will not be only Vert that wonders, but AVB, not to mention the rest of us. I mean we essentially have only one forward and he stands a little under 5'7"... We have sold Keane, Pav, Crouch, Berbatov and not replaced one of them. If we do not get some serious striking action into the side then I think I will start to seriously wonder.
Cape Town Spurs
You both totally miss my point Ryan & kernow. Oxfordspur got his point across with the article & things changed for the better, but that wasn't good enough. Go back to my earlier post, read what was deleted & then tell me its exactly the same as those posts originally complained about.

What you both fail to realise is that we are being censored for posting trivia, whilst outright abuse is perfectly acceptable. Please explain to me how that is a sane & sensible way to moderate posts. Its akin to letting off muggers while stamping down hard on those leaving their bins out too early. The policy of the madhouse.

Even though you might not like the "1st" post game, is it really that heinous that it should be banned whilst allowing abuse? Isn't that an oxymoron in moderating terms?

We've all laughed at Rocky 7 on Vital Arsenal & Merlin on Vital Chelsea for deleting p1$$ taking posts we've put up on their sites, yet somehow, Oxfordspur's deleting of harmless posts is somehow alright. I just don't get it & I'm sure VS has lost more members through personal abuse than for being fed up with "1st" posts!

Bizarre.

Spuds-U-Like
I'd write an article on this, but I know Oxfordspur wouldn't publish. I even tried to put up a poll to assess other member's views on deleting celebratory 1st posts, but that wasn't put up either.

I guess the only way we might get him to see reason is if enough of us were to email him, as the couple of moaners did, & complain about the censorship, he just might do something, but I'm not holding my breath as he's firmly on the "against" side of this argument. That would be fair enough if he was being fair, but he isn't.

Spuds-U-Like
Well looks like we have lost another......."Don't think I will bother on here any more. Bye chaps been nice knowing you but with this silliness stopping people having a bit of fun and NO abusive comments removed and no one warned about them I think this site is now hitting the heights of hypocrisy" chrishove123
ledgespur
@ Cape Town Spurs .... been wondering myself for the last 7 windows mate. Finding it really difficult to understand the undying faith in the ILIT brigade when all the evidence points to the contrary. 3 strikers and a decent keeper still required at the very least and I'd rather we weren't bedding them in during the season.
thfc1882whl
Here's the thing, to see who is first you read the first post and the name associated with it was first. The screaming of I won seems to me as distasteful as Defoe's 100 goal shirt. For those who need it, let them have it. Erasing posts is a slippery slope. I'd rather have the most recent posts at the top.

I did not see anything "pony" about Vertonghen yesterday. Competent first outing, IMO. COYS
peterballb
Chrishovel, reg posts on here and always has decent things to say. Lack of response from site staff is as ignorant as taking law into your own hands.
ledgespur
Does anyone else see the irony of giving the captains armband to a guy who has played his best games when other players have talked him through games? Dawson can't even communicate across the back four let alone the whole 11 players. I bet our nearest rivals are quaking in their boots at the thought of him being our captain marvel. Squad player? Yes. Captain? Do me a favour.
muttley
Kierzo, I would have kept Harry over taking AVB, yes! I was out for HR but would far rather have kept HR than signed a risky coach like AVB. I don't get why I don't have the right to criticize him then. Peter, I am sorry but the departures we have had vs the actual signings(departures even under HR) I am not that optimistic. There needs to be far more done under AVB for me to have any optimistic outlook to his tenure. Losing King is a bigger loss than getting Vert. We needed 30m under HR to fight for better than 4th now we are going to need far more of a rebuild than just that.
RagingSpur
Chelsea's Oscar signing makes this time very depressing for me....COME ON! They took Mata, Marin, Hazard, and now Oscar from us! 4 Tremendous Players! Don't know how we are to compete with them and Man $hitty with the little true quality we have left upfront in our squad with Bale, VDV, Lennon, and Sandro...
dcruzer
to the first people - you do realise that you don't have to submit an article or poll on this site to discuss whether first posting is sensible? You can just create a poll or thread on this site yourself? Why do you need Ox to publish it on the front page? I can see the average newsnow reader seeing the headline under "Vital Spurs" of "Should we be allowed to celebrate posting first responses to an article" flashing up and thinking what a joke this site is! Ox has done a fantastic job in the 6 years he has been administrator of VS and turned it into (at times) the most active on the vital network and most active non-official spurs site on the net. Keep the front page articles about the articles and respect the job Ox is doing. That is all......
Dave the Yid
@Dave the Yid, with you 100% mate. I mean what the hell do the people that contribute to the site have to do with anything. VIVA exclusion. VIVA separatism.VIVA censorship. VIVA! VIVA!
Cape Town Spurs
Bale? Loves the club, plays with passion, start every game
spurticus87
Dawson is ok if you like the long ball game!
MrSpurs
Seems to me that what Ox has done is divide this site. Now if Ox had the backbone to either acknowledge his mistake and allow things to return to 'normal', or post a poll that contributors could vote on and agree by abide by that would be worth a whole lot more than holier than thou BS merchants who think everything should be wiki-football.
Cape Town Spurs
CTS - all lost on me. Can you update what is going on here? What has Ox done whilst I've been neglecting my fellow yids and doing work for a change as opposed to chatting on here? Which articles can I see the evidence?
muttley
136th!!!
Paul - THFC Forever
@Muttley, not as exciting as you might hope mate, sorry! We are debating the banning of 1st posts vs the live & let live approach to existence, or not, (read censorship lol!). There just seems to be a real divide on here now and some might have a pop and say it is people like me that are fueling, but then again if we disagree why should we just fall over and accept what is dictated to us. All in all much ado about nothing. Unfortunate really, because so much time has been spent by so many debating something that was harmless and could simply have been left alone.
Cape Town Spurs
Someone explain WTF you're all on about????
MrSpurs
anyhow, my opinions on the subject are well and truly known to posters on this site, no point me going on about it time and again. i can as has been previously suggested just F off and deal with it, or I can hang around under the new regime. i'm 50/50. cheers all
Cape Town Spurs
CTS - thanks. Must admit, I'm in the can't beat them, join them camp. I never get any sense of joy of winning unless I have read the article and made a genuine comment. Any other victory is simply a shallow one and fellow competitors should be ashamed of doing it. I especially don't like the copy and paste brigade. We should operate a name and shame league table :-)
muttley
Get first by posting something about the article at the same time ,2 birds with one stone .Use the term "FIRST" in your sentence ,a little imagination .

Oxfordshire had a point & if you can`t see his point then WOW ,it`s getting cringey now .
big cockeral
and if that doesn't underscore my point about division then what ever could
Cape Town Spurs
@ledgespur..... Shame about chrishove123, always a decent poster, spoke his mind in an articulate manner without malace. Rarely wandered from the point unlike some ..... oooh shiney.... A loss to the VS family and all for the sake of those who won't skip the first half dozen posts if you're not into the whole 1st game. Petty in the extreme and detracting from the chat about the one thing we all have in common, an unending passion for THFC, great shame.
thfc1882whl
1st-ly...... i would like to state that because of the amount of proper hardcore yids on here that are eager to get there point across... and that refresh the site all day long to actually give there opinions... isent a credit to us all that we pride ourselves on being first in line to debate an article posted by OX or whoever... ive had 1 or 2 firsts and had no quarms about stating my gold, silver or bronze position... look on any of the other VITAL... there all *****e... they dont get the numbers we do.... lets not bother ourselves with debating this crappy subject on positions any more... the most important position is... where the lilywhite will end up.... anyway... im gona change the subject now...
Yidmarks
Peter, if you are in London for either of the first two games and you haven't sorted tickets let me know. I will make sure you and your wife see one of the games. COYS.
ItalianYiddo
I don't think Ox actually has censored anyone for writing "first," has he? I never did participate in the mad race for first place, although I once did come in first and apologized for doing so. (I felt I must have been doing so as someone else's expense for whom it mattered.) But just out of curiosity, has anyone actually had the experience of being censored by Ox? I know the Chelsea and Ar$e sites do a whole lot of censoring when I've gone on to have a go at them, and Ox does not to the same to their supporters when they come on here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that no one actually has been censored on this site, even though Ox did say one day he would knock off comments that did nothing other than claim first place.
Total knobhead
I honestly give it to kaboul can't see Dawson playing much in the league so I'd give the armband kaboul and make van der vaart vice captain.what's happening with a signings thought we where ade and fryers
rockerty rock8
AVB might take the easy option and give it to the keeper - whoever he decides. Of course the problem with that is you have two spare keepers who no longer think they are part of the team - so no change there.
In-spurs-ational
rockerty rock8, as far as I am aware, Fryers is technically a spurs player. The only thing missing is a fee to be advised via tribunal. Ade is, depending on what you read, either a nailed on Spurs player or his wage demands are too much for us. I would tend to go with the later as, if I were Ade, I wouldn't take a huge pay cut
In-spurs-ational
AVB could go for a rotating captaincy, with a different captain every match. Put it up for grabs and see who wins it by their performance as captain.
Total knobhead
OFF TOPIC.... get REMY, ADE, BENAT, MOUTINHO and BERBs..... coys
Yidmarks
I think we should ask AVB what we should do about the "first craze" because I am sure he will have a response for it ;)
RagingSpur
and since everyone on here loves AVB so much we can just listen to his opinion on it...
RagingSpur
If we can't get Ade, how about Carroll. He's still young so there would be a resale value so the overall deal would be very cheap. I think he would do well with the likes of Bale and Lennon supplying crosses. Not sure of his ability to hold the ball up though
In-spurs-ational
RagingSpur, if, as you say, "everyone on here loves AVB so much", I take it you must love him to - sorry, couldn't resist - I'll go on the naughty step now
In-spurs-ational
In, Carroll? I'll pass after seeing some of the misses he has made for Liverpool. Unless we can get him for 8-10m he isn't worth any bit more and sure is not the striker we should ever be aiming for. PS Oh I do love AVB ever-so-much ;)
RagingSpur
dcruzer, while any and all of the players Chelsea has signed might have been good, we were probably outbid on the transfer fee and most assuredly on the salaries. There's only so much one can do. Add Remy, Lloris, Moutinho, Perisic, Castaignos and add them to Fryers, Vertonghen and Sigurdsson and I'm not really too fussed. There is still work to be done but the reality is, the dead wood must go and AVB is the only one who can determine who they are. He will not sell gio until he has had him in the team. I like that approach. Let me help you. Give them enough rope to hang but not enough to kill them. If it's not there, move on. Bentley, Townsend, Livermore, Jenas, Bassong, Cudicini, Defoe were all getting time to make their case. I'm sure they'll get more chances. I'll also be that by the time August rolls around, there will be guys moving on. I would not be surprised if the deal to get Moutinho is done, contingent on Modric moving. we'll get a winger in (Perisic would be great or Affelay) if Jenas, Bentley and others are moved on. It's going to take time. By next summer I expect to have a much leaner Spurs squad. If he manages that while getting us in Europe, it's mission accomplished. CL and/or silverware and he's ahead of the game. One step at a time. Caulker, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Naughton, Fryers is a pretty good young bunch of defenders who, with the tutelage of Gallas, King, BAE, should all be able to make the grade. COYS
peterballb
RagingSpur, I knew you were really a closet AVB fan :) To be honest I can't see Liverpool selling Carroll to us or anyone else as it would seem to be a big failure - unless City decide to buy him with some loose change they manged to find behind one of their sofas - you know the odd £40m or so
In-spurs-ational
Why not think ahead and make Sandro captain when he plays with Dawson as club captain
Forever Spurs
In-spur-ational .... Sorry mate but, sell on value? Are we looking to be a club that just concentrates on getting our money back or are we looking to be a club that earns its dough from on field success. All this talk of "sell on value" does is devalue the club as whole. We should only be looking at selling players when they are no longer any use to us, not when they are in their prime. No wonder players see us as a stepping stone rather than a career long option when they know that as soon as the club can double their outlay, they'll be sold no matter what. The sell on value arguement is a recipe for financial security maybe, but for success on the field it should be the last thing on anyones mind.
thfc1882whl
ItalianYiddo, I will be there from the 24th til the 2nd. I would love to catch both games, my wife wants to see at least one (she does still play so it's fair enough). The best price I have found is 160 GBP per ticket and they can't even state where it is, only that it is on the sidelines (upper or lower, they won't know until later). Ideally, I'd love to be able to go with you to one of the games and go with my wife to the other. Based on our schedule, the ideal game for me to go with my wife would be the WBA, just because the anniversary is the 31st, so she'll not likely be in great shape for the game on the 1st after all that I and the hotel have planned. Let me know your thoughts. If you want to e-mail me directly you can do so at thfcpeter@gmail.com . I really appreciate your offer and I'll have your back if ever you are in the Toronto area. COYS
peterballb
peterballb - haven't we released Gallas? Maybe I'm just thinking about Saha and Nelson. Yep, just checked the official site and Gallas is still there - no Ledley though :(
In-spurs-ational
As for the censorship issue...well I visit this site less than I would like to but dislike all the clearly offensive language and the downright abuse. Argument, debate that I like and many here are well capable of that but all too often posting degenerates to a puerile level. On the other hand a million posts claiming to be first are not in any way offensive and this is a non issue
Forever Spurs
I dont see a standout candidate. Parker would be ideal but he is not a definite starter, so is Dawson. And if we sign Llloris , I will not go for him either. He is known to be a introvert and look at the mess French team. It may not be don to him, but a good captain could have handled it better. I would go for Sandro, considering he is quite popular among the squad. His English has improved. He is becoming a starter in Brazil squad. And AVB - Sandro communication could also work well. And he has a presence about him that likes of Kaboul & BAE dont have.
sydqcb5
Spuds-U-Like - I understand where your coming from I just don't care either way. It doesn't bother me with the firsts i even compete if i see a new article, but i also couldn't care less if he deleted my 1st. I understand that your upset but are we really going to do the whole "well he done this so why can't i do that". Just use the site for the same way you've always used it. A little bit of banter, useful knowledge and the freedom to express your own opinions. I wouldn't let something so small get you rattled.
RyanHotSpur
Raging, I understand your misgivings. As I said, he is not my first choice (or even close), but he does have credentials. What he accomplished at Porto was out of the norm in a League that really only has a few top teams. Apart from what he did in Portugal, he won Europa, which may well be the toughest of all Cups to win just because of the sheer number of games that you have to play. Criticize him, sure. Just wait until it's deserved. If there is no striker come the start of the season, if the dead wood still lingers and if we look completely lost in our first three games, have at him. It is my opinion, based on his history with Spurs, and his decades of history managing, that Harry was not going to ever be the difference in opushing this team forward. 125 corners to get one in the back of the net. That is all down to execution and coaching. The players we have deserve a manager, not a mouthpiece. I believe we have one, and I am happy, even if there are others I would have preferred. COYS
peterballb
thfc1882whl, Carroll would be a risk. The sell on value is there to minimise the risk. However, as a club, I don't think we have the finances to spend big without getting anything in return. Even a champions league run "only" brings in around £40m. Hopefully when we get the promised new stadium, things will change
In-spurs-ational
I believe Carroll is the answer moreso in a 4-4-2 as opposed to what I see AVB doing. I'd rather take the money and get Affelay, Castaignos, Remy, Perisic, Loach. You'd have keeper, striker and three wingers, all of whom could play a striker"ish" role. Add Moutinho and I'm tickled pink. The proceeds of all those going (Modric, Kranjcar, Corluka, Bentley, Jenas, Gomes, Defoe, Pav, Gio etc) would easily cover the costs. No net spend. COYS
peterballb
peterballb, the problem with trying to sell people like Bentley and Co isn't the transfer fee, which for all the players wouldn't be too much (depending on Levy's mood), it's the wages they are on. As we've seen with Ade, players don't like being paid less than before
In-spurs-ational
I'd also add, I wouldn't like to be paid less so I can see it from the players perspective.
In-spurs-ational
Shame actually as Modric would have been a perfect shout for team captain alongside Daws as club captain ....... But he's burnt his bridges now
SUper Yido
Peter, sorted. Will email you tomorrow.
ItalianYiddo
@peterballb. Thanks for the words mate. F#cking Chel$hit. Hope these young players suffer by being on the bench...
dcruzer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royston_Drenthe Free Agent What do you think guys is he worth a risk Yes or No ???
redhotspur1234
In-spur-ational... Sorry mate but if Carroll flops wherever he goes next, then he's never going to recoup anything approaching what Liverpoo are willing to sell him for. If we're looking for players with a sell on value then I'd go for McLean from Sunderland, he's going to be a £20 million+ player if he gets the right manager.
I'm sick of us building teams around players who clearly see us as a shop window, we should work to become the club players gaze in awe at and selling our prized assets every 3 or 4 years isn't the way to go. This season is shaping up to be a real struggle and AVB could well end up being the fall guy for the boards lack of direction.
thfc1882whl
thfc1882whl, problem is, until we can compete with the likes of City and Chelsea (and other big Euro teams) on wages, players will always see us as a stepping stone. Even though Bale has signed a new contract, I'm sure he'll leave in the next three years or so in order to "win things" (secret code for doubling your wages). Have a good night
In-spurs-ational
In-spur-ational.... Not picking on you mate, honest, you just mentioned being paid less, here's my take on that.
When you have a bank account that reads in the millions, how much more do you really need? At a conservative estimate I would guess that Adebayor has £10mill+ tucked away and his properties are all paid for. He professes to love the game yet would rather sit on the bench for city and not play just for the sake of ££££'s. He's been offered probably £5million a year a Spurs along with the knowledge that he'll be a regular starter and still it ain't enough. Well f*** you Adebayor, we want players who want to play for the shirt and not the money. The guy has already got more money than he could ever have dreamt of growing up and now he's let greed become more important than the game that made him rich.
Granted if you're on £20K a year and someone offers you £10k a year for the same job at nicer offices, of course you'll turn it down. But if yu've been earning £10millon a year for 3 years and you ain't happy there, why wouldn't you take £5million a year and be happy? Greed is why.
thfc1882whl
Final thoughts In-spur-ational, then lets start investing in players and actually go all out to win things rather than just looking at top four. It's shape up or ship out time for ENIC.
thfc1882whl
thfc1882whl. No offence taken, but I'm off to bed anyway. Just one point though, I don't think you can ever have enough money in the sense that however much you have, you'll always want more - you might have enough for a helicopter, but wouldn't a plane be nicer etc... Personally, I'd be happy if I had enough for a Bentley - the car not the player - I do have more than 50p you know :)
In-spurs-ational
Would always prefer the captain to be on the pitch, leading by example. I like Dawson, very committed, but no where near as talented as kaboul, vertonghen or even caulker and gallas for me - so no to our number 5 ranked ( is he better than bas song) cb being captain. Sorry MD, love you as a spur, but not the quality to advance us. Europa league captain - big yes.
Windlespur
For players using us as a shop window... all this will stop when we start wining cups, titles and qualify for CL every year, and have a new stadium... have faith we are on the way now....
Block D Spurs
Good positivity block D and on that note - night all. P.s. Read the Carroll and berbatov comments and think both ( if at the right price) would be potentially very good options for us.
Windlespur
Surprised Huddlestone hasn't had more traction. He captained us in a few CL games, certainly could play a decent amount of games next season and is pretty much our longest serving player now (apart from Daws)! He has enough footballing ability to be respected by other players and the youth to be our long term solution. Friedel, Parker and VDV are now in their final season with Spurs and may not get to play more than 15 games each, Daws is not going to keep a first team place ahead of Vert, Kaboul and Caulker. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.
Tactically Challenge
Huddlestone for President!!!
Tactically Challenge
Although the thought that Jenas has captained us on numerous occasions also makes a mockery of the whole armband issue. Give it to Walker, with Caulker as VC, were in this for the long haul!
Tactically Challenge
Just going to put my 5 cents worth in the 'FIRST' issue. I also think ox should have stayed clear of the issue. Instead, he actually wrote an article about it, followed by banning it! The one good thing that's come out of this is how we all get the 'FIRST' word in with a semi meaningful sentence as the first post. Some great imaginative posts for first in recent weeks. Regarding the person who took the time to write to complain to ox directly, I bet you he/she probably does not even post regularly here. I don't believe in catering for the minority. As for football, Dawson for captain for me because he is currently the most suitable candidate.
Madaboutspurs
Seriously folks, Vertonghen just started with us. I know he is going to be great for us but we just cannot name him captain yet. For lack of a better choice, it's gotta be Daws and I think AVB knows it and I think he deserves it too. COYS.
Madaboutspurs
Ade is worth no more than 100k a week in todays market. If we are offering him a thee or four year contract for that amount, it won't get any better than that. Ade's problem is that he wants the difference of the extra 75k a week made up that he would have earned with the year left on his current Citeh contract. That's what i think. He is money motivated but i think he is a unique striker and one that we culd do with. I hope he can see the light. If Ade sits on the bench for Citeh for a year, he won't get a big contract when he leaves on a free unless he goes to China or Russia. I am sure his advisers will try to push the deal through once they realise Levy will not budge.
asherthesmasher
asherthesmasher, I guess a good fraction of his earned money goes to his disabled people charity. So, I will not stamp him as money minded. Every summer you can see him taking some day off to meet the charity in his home country. I defintely believe he has changed a lot after Togo football shootout. He went to Madrid & came to us after that, he has changed. Also to the question of if he is worth 150k, I would defintely say yes. I mean if Bale with his amount of assist & goals is worth 100k a week, Adebayor with his 17 goals & 12 assists contributing in totally 29 goals is worth 150k a week. If you say Bale does lots of work off the ball, so is Adebayor. The question to me is whether we can afford him. Adebayor was also instrumental how likes of Defoe & Saha played around him. They defintely were much better playing alongside him. From rumors, it seems that we & Ade are expecting City to pay off the remaining amount, which is a tall order. I guess, everyone will chip in with some compromise and hopefully we sign him. To me ,it was he who was key for us getting to top3 for most part of season. When he went goaless,we went winless. He has his lull periods, but so does most strikers. He is not world class 30 goal a season striker, but he is defintely one who will be direct/indirect contributor for 30 goals in a season. Problem last season was toward late ennd of season we didnt get goals from midfield-likes of VDV, Modric, Parker,Sandro, Lennon contributed nothing. Hopefully, this time around with Sigurdsson & possibly Hudd & a new signing(if done) we might see a few more goals from midfield.That should offset any dull period from strikers. To me, Adebayor is a MUST signing to have any decent hopes of ending in top4.
sydqcb5
Morning all. Off topic but here's a thought.
Every club with a decent striker knows we are desperate for front men so the price is going to be overinflated. Levy has two choices as I see it, buy young unproven talent or pay over the top. I guess he could also do nothing and leave us and AVB in the lurch. This is down to penny pinching and our last managers inability to spot a player under 30.
thfc1882whl
If our scouting department was half decent, we would have uncovered some 'young unproven talent' over the past 4 years but instead we got Saha last time :-(
Madaboutspurs
Mad.....Our prev. manager sacked our top scouting man... that's why we have no strikers, and Newcastle are good to go...
Block D Spurs
No he never.....Carr was left go by the club...for the second time by the way. Was never part of the new plans.
SpursOne2
I give up! It seems there are very few of you who have grasped the significance of the deleting of the "1st" posts.

It doesn't matter whether you are bothered by the "game" or not, you SHOULD be bothered about the deletion of it. This site has rightly been lauded for its tolerance, well there is very little tolerance on this issue now. Oxfordspurs has taken the 1st step towards moderator imposed censorship & that should worry us all. How long before it becomes something else that is deemed an irritant & worthy of deletion?

The purpose of Oxfordspur's article achieved its objective, to reproduce the quote from the emailer he used:

"Your piece 'Moutinho for Modric is good for Spurs!' was well written but 5 of the first 6 comments are about who posted a response first. This stuff stops people from reading on - it's so juvenile."

The nature of the "game" changed as a result, to the point where they are not as celebratory & juvenile as they used to be & there are no longer 5 or 6 comments before the articles get discussed. That is quite a significant change which should have been the end of it &, to any fair minded person, it would've been reasonable to have left it there.

We all have a choice, those of us who want to treat articles with a scientific seriousness are free to do so, those who want to have some fun should be free to do so as well. I'm sure there are discussion forums out there that cater for both individually & if there aren't, well, there's an opportunity for someone. How about "Seriously Spurs" or "The Spurs Silly Season"?

Its a shame about Chrishove, but maybe he's right to have done it.

Spuds-U-Like
thfc1882whl - I think we should get Ade in if possible, get a youngster and someone who is much older for a good deal. I do want them to pull a big signing from some where thou.....
SpursOne2
Cant wait for the new season to start....
SpursOne2
TK I had my post on the cycling thread censored . It said " I still remember my FIRST bike" and was as relevant as the article which was posted. So there
Big Ron
Daws for Club Captain only. AVB should then pick best 11 for each game as he has stated he will and then pick a match captain from them.
Wilts Spurs
AVB also stated he will start season with 3 strikers and so is looking to bring one in. This to me says a few things. 1) He is only interested in signing Ade to leave Ade, Defoe and Kane as strikers. 2) AVB may not be planning 433 but more 4231. 3) With Bale wearing no9 he may be used as 2nd striker this season. So looks like no big money signings again. Think our biggest deal will be Vertonghen and Modric money be left until January when we see how we are doing and where squad needs new blood.
Wilts Spurs
BTW, those who are wondering just what all this is about, please take some time to read my posts above & it should become clearer.

When I've calmed down & can find some time, I'm going to crystalise my thoughts & put them in an email to Oxfordspur & try to get him to compromise on this issue as that's the ONLY solution to this complete intolerance. Compromise has been lost on this so far.

Spuds-U-Like
I think Townsend and Carroll, will have a bigger role in first team this season even if only in cups. Townsend looked like he has a better cross than Lennon and can use both feet. Plus he is fast. Hope we demolish L'pool on Sat with a Siggi hat trick.
Wilts Spurs
Well, no matter what you decide Spud-U-Like, you are not allowed to leave Vital Spurs because you are one of my favourite posters not to mention the emoticons :-) Have a great day, you all .COYS
Madaboutspurs
Spursone...What new plans ? at the time this was a good 2 years ago now..we were in CL Harry doing ok... ABV at Porto...Since then look at Newcastle signings and look at ours by Harry...
Block D Spurs
Carr was sacked by the club not Harry ****ing Redknapp. This was the second time the club let him go. So did Man City...if he was that good he would still be here. Say what you like thou mate...but you aint fooling anyone
SpursOne2
Wilts - AVB is doing the right thing by not changing to much too quick...Dawson deserves the armband for now as he is good enough and has previous.....i don't think its a permanent decision and i'm sure he is assessing the team and probably already has an idea of who might take it in time. Agree on the fact he might not just be a one formation wonder...so will have the team practice more than one angle. Townsend will feature more, im sure AVB will like the options he gives us....he is a better backup for Lennon and Bale than Gio imo. Carroll i still want to see more off.
SpursOne2
Dawson for Captain, Vert for Vice Captain. Next question?
Rapm
http://hotspurhq.com/2012/07/26/tottenham-lose-to-cska-moscow-in-ni-milk-cup/
SpursOne2
For you Block D Spurs - Players like Falque, Coulibaly and Ceballos are still here.....not to forget Kaboul, VDV, Ade....Walker and Livermoor brought though int he first team. We have a new scout and manager here now so I'm interested to see if they can bring in even better. Some of the players who were a 'miss here during HR's reign (yeah there were some) are now gone.....http://www.tottenhamhotspurs.tv/forum/player-chat/20320-harry-redknapps-hits-misses.html
SpursOne2
Newcastle 2nd......Bolton 4th....Man u 5th.....Spurs 10th....... http://www.nimilkcup.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=199&Itemid=246 I hope this is not also the league positions with newcastle at the top
Big Ron
7 English teams in the top ten.....not bad.....we will now fight it out for 10th 11th i think
SpursOne2
I hear you Madabout & I appreciate your sentiments, thanks mate. There's no doubt VS has lost a lot of members due to personal abuse & I'm sure we could all name at least one member who's left because of it. recently, I've even seen coopsieyid get some abuse on an article when he hadn't even posted on it! It was about 3 weeks ago & whilst I know he hasn't been around since then, I can't help thinking that there could be a connection somehow. Its not like him to go AWOL this long is it?

I just find it bizarre that vile abuse is allowed, but harmless fun isn't & that simply can't be right.

As for me, this is the closest I've ever come to quitting on VS, not even saltycellars was able to wind me up that much.

Spuds-U-Like
Spuds-U-Like - You're really going to press this aren't you?
RyanHotSpur
Absolutely Ryan, I said I would in response to Oxfordspur's article & I meant it, just as I mean every word I've posted above.

Our society prides itself on tolerance & free speech, I won't allow this zero tolerance without compromise on VS to continue any longer than I have to. As I said, Oxfordspur's article solved the basic problem & to continue to prosecute it is way, way over the top. If I fail to get Oxfordspur to see reason & compromise, then that'll be it for me, I'll quit VS for good.

Spuds-U-Like
saltysellers lol. That's a blast from the not to distant past. Also reminded me of the likes of Dannism and yidpondan. I know they were trolling for only a few weeks and we knew they were always going to leave but at that time, it felt like an eternity. lol.
Madaboutspurs
Jesus Christ Spurs this isn't a democracy its a flippin thread on the internet. Ox has made the rule of no first posting so if you break the rule your post gets deleted or worse simple. If your going to continue being such a whiny little bitch then please do quit VS. I came here to talk about Tottenham not Freedom of Speech.
Rapm
you're*
Rapm
Spuds-U-Like - Props for free speech...i have to say all the peoples opinions on this haven't been deleted thou!. Football is the main thing here which is what brought us in the First place...this will get sorted. It would be a shame to loose good posters here over something like 'trying to sneak a first with out ox noticing'. Mate your clever...just be more sneaky so he cant see it ha ;-) anyhew i'm not gonna bang on about it but having been reading what you have to say.
SpursOne2
Calling me a whiny little bitch says more about you than it does me Rapm buddy, thats just the sort of abuse that's allowed whilst a little innocent fun is banned. If you're happy with that fine, don't expect anyone else to be. And don't moan when the next perceived irritating type of post, like personal non article related posts, get banned. If you only want serious discussions about Spurs, are not willing to live & let live, then why don't YOU quit VS?

I don't want ANY VS member to quit because of abuse or irritating posts, all I want is a level, fair playing field. I'm sorry that you & others don't see it that way.

Spuds-U-Like
Sorry.
Spuds-U-Like
Bored with the whole first bull***** - does anyone really care, well obviously, but shouldn't. Accept the rules, whatever they are. Back to Spurs - Strong Christian Eriksen rumours on twitter - really, really hope that they are true (although strong Moutinho ones yesterday & can't see both coming in). However, if we had Modric, Eriksen, Moutinho & Eriksen we would control the game, just not be too strong :)
Windlespur
Spuds-U-Like im sure there a Peppa Pig site where you can post first on!? Facking ell fix up geeza
JattYid
Agree with both points Windle, all the talk about the 'first posting' is getting boring now, I do see Spuds' pointas I wouldn't have thought his post deserved to get deleted, but it's been discussed far 2 long on this article, email your concerns to Ox, as Im sure most of us are not bothered.

And I think Christian Eriksen will be a decent buy, had a poor Uefa, but is more in ourprice range, and does a similiar job to what Modric does for us.
Ossie
Ha what a load of ****, I don’t really give a toss about the first thing, if I post first then so what, if someone else does and they wanna say so then that’s up to them, if someone doesn’t want to read it they don’t have to. Its just so pathetic people saying “I had to scroll down the first 10 posts….”so phcuking what!! And OX, well done for turning a drama into a crisis. We have spent more time debating the bloody issue than the “problem” it causes

So we can only talk about football and article related issues, ok so when another member(s) are talking about where they live, or what job they do etc etc they should be deleted, im not gonna lie, I don’t really give a flying phuck as to those sorts of things but I don’t kick off about it, I just simply DON’T PHUCKIN READ IT!!! Some people just need to grow up…including Oxfordspur!
hudderspur
BTW - Agent of Rameriez is in london talking to a premiership club about a move. Cant see it being chelsea, so....
hudderspur
Hudderspur for £19m for a 21year old winger I can't see him coming to us, nor Arsenal, probably is Chelsea if it's a london club, altho can't see where they will fit him in.
Ossie
Facking ell first people on hear turned on Harry, then Modric now Ox! Whos next for a bashing i say Peppa Pig tha ba5t3rd piece of p155 keeps jumping in puddles the kunnt!
JattYid
Its not surprising I suppose, its just the nature of discussion forums that posts can be taken out of context if the responder hasn't read what's gone before, so I'm going to assume thats what has happened here Jattyid, & not take you to task mate.

My position on this has nothing to do with "1st" posts, that was simply the vehicle that prompted the unprecedented situation that for the first time on VS, certain types of posts are to be universally deleted. Never mind arbitrarily allowing abuse whilst deleting a little bit of fun, the issue for me is NOT the fact one or two VSers exercised their right to complain to the moderator about what they saw as a puerile game that distracted from the point of an article, its that their view was given sole precedence to the exclusion of everyone else whilst at the same time allowing other more serious issues, like abuse to carry on unchallenged.

There's a serious point to all this that goes beyond fairness or whether you like or dislike the 1st post game & I just worry what will be banned next. If we allow this, we must allow everything our moderator deems unacceptable, no matter how inoffensive it might appear to you.

I will fight for the right to party! :-)
Spuds-U-Like
Please say the name calling in your last post wasn't aimed at me Jattyid.

Spuds-U-Like
Hudderspur/Ossie - Good bit of info maybe he will be off to LFC thou? We like to pinch their targets thou. Old article sorry http://thekop.liverpoolfc.com/_Gaston-Ramirez-Just-Who-Is-This-Boy/blog/6204795/173471.html?b=
SpursOne2
Yep Ossie maybe your right about the London club http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/7933890/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
SpursOne2
Spuds i was reading your last post and thinking ok fair doos until the 2nd to last paragraph where u said "there's a serious point to all this" at which point i lol'd to the point where a lil p155 came out! I like reading your posts mate normally but facking chill
JattYid
Ossie - 19m is a hefty price, but thats just the way things are going. I mean £25m for Oscar!! Arsenal wont pay that, also they are apparently in talks with Cazorla, chelsea have signed Marin, Hazzard, De Brune and Oscar so i really camnt see them going for another AM / Winger! End of the day even if they are "in Talks" it still means sweet FA. Im just clutching at anything now as we seem to be no nearer anything.
hudderspur
Spuds mate i didnt name call you or anyone it was just a joke about a kids cartoon
JattYid
Fair enough Jatt mate, sorry if my passion for this is coming over as OTT, its not my intention to cause you or anyone else grief.

Time now to deal directly with Oxfordspur - when I've calmed down & can get across to him in a reasoned manner! ;-)

I'm done with this today. COYS!

Spuds-U-Like
Would be nice to beef up our midfield attacking options...
SpursOne2
Chelsea are taking the pish on this front at the moment
SpursOne2
This is really boring today. We need to get back on track with new signings straight after the US tour, Siggy and Vert don't quite equate to Hazard, Miliam and Oscar do they.

Hurry up and spend some proper money!!!
T.H.F.Chris
Thanks Spuds. I see you're point about the deletion of "1sts" yet no lockdown on posts that get around the swearing filter or pure abusive unnecesary posts. It has been blown out of proportion though. Take it directly to Ox through mail and hopefully he will be dignified enough to give you a reasonable response. Much love.
RyanHotSpur
Predictor:

City
Chelsea
United
Arsenal
Spurs
Liverpool
Newcastle
Fulham
RyanHotSpur
Appreciate that Ryan, now, do you not think that the Chavs have brought in too many new midfield players especially, to integrate properly for a realistic tilt at 2nd place? I do mate, their time is more likely to be next season rather than this IMO.

Spuds-U-Like
Good Lord, Gentlemen. What's going on here today? I agree with Ox that the first posting had gotten silly, and anyone using a poor internet connection would be irritated at having to scroll past them, but did Ox do something akin to the Falangist Party silencing its critics? To anyone tenpted to stop posting here because of this: OK. And then come back and join us again when you've gotten your anger out of your system. If you want to fight injustice, take a look around and see the staggering amounts of poverty, the incessant wars, the spiking food prices in third world countries, the theft of trillions by corrupt bankers and their political allies. But if this is the issue over which you want to put your energies in protest, it seems Ox will not be censoring you.
Total knobhead
Predictor City Man utd Chelski Arsenal Liverpool Spurs Newcastle Everton
rockerty rock8
You are totally right TK, & maybe I got my teeth into this because it is something I feel I can actually do something about. The other stuff will take more than just me or you to fix. That's not defeatist, its reality & yes, I do feel just as strongly about them as I do about this.

Enough from me now.

Spuds-U-Like
Spuds-U-Like - I understand it takes time for a team to gel, City being the obvious example, but i also think their new signings aren't going to be thrown in the deep end straight away. The back four remains unchanged and i have a feeling Frank will still be top dog of the midfield. I can see Hazard and Marin with rotational roles with Mata still playing a big part. Although they've signed a few players it's not exactly a huge transition. Time will tell.
RyanHotSpur
The little MoFo to Paris St Germaine for the full 40 million?
Total knobhead
Spuds, join me in trying to safe the world and I'll join you in a small protest against censorship in the vital sites. I've been knocked out of the vital ar$e and vital ruski sites many's the time for making substantive comments. Ox never censors any trolls here so far as I know and a big up to him for that.
Total knobhead
Absolutely TK with you on your entire post mate.

Spuds-U-Like
 

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