What will the spuds/Bale do now?

Without Bale, Spurs would be well down the table. Do you reckon Bale will push for a move and do you think Levy will sell if he gets £50M? Where would Bale go?

I honestly can't see Bale coming to us if he does leave. We don't have a manager and most people have some respect for Moyes so I can see him going to Utd.

Overseas? I'm not so sure though Barca or Real Madrid would be a huge draw but maybe a step too far for him just yet.

Bale to Utd, maybe Valencia, Young, Nani the other way.

Agreed, Bale will go to the Rags........hope we break the bank to get him though.

If he stays with the Spuds, he really wants his head examining.

We don't have a manager right now, Dawg, but if the recent press speculation and Melton's suggestion are based in fact, it doesn't matter; Trixi and Solaris are going to buy the players regardless of who's in charge. I just hope Bale doesn't go to the rags as we'd find ourselves playing catch up with them for another season and, with baconface gone, we don't want them to get too comfortable too soon.

I'm still reeling from that shocking performance yesterday, I'm not even thinking about transfers right now.

I think foreign players won't worry about us not having a manager because that's how most clubs work on the continent; the directors do the deals.

Players from our own shores will worry about no manager or another foreign manager coming in that they've not heard of and may go for the safer option. Going to Utd. would seem to be a better idea than going to City.

But wait, Chelsea are getting Mourinho back and Bale has heard of him. They already have a good team and have won the Champs League, FA Cup and Europa League in the last two seasons. Going to Chelsea would mean he could still live in London and has a decent chance of silverware.

Directors sign the players but its also the players that choose to sign or not to play for certain coaches. Some players at Real Madrid would not want to sign for a club if Mourinho was the coach after his stint with Real and i'm sure that there are other coaches that players would not want to work under. Conversely, there are good coaches that players would jump at the chance to play under, Fergie was such a coach for example. Therefore, not having a coach in situ could affect whether a player signs or not, they want to know which coach they will be working with.

"I'm still reeling from that shocking performance yesterday, I'm not even thinking about transfers right now."

Ditto Leo!

I wouldn't be surprised if Bale stays at Spurs for another year, he has just had a kid and I don't think he'd want the upheaval just yet.

In terms of us, I imagine we need to get some out of the door before we get people coming in. I don't think not having a coach will affect us too much. There are three main things that will entice players - Champions League football, possibility to win trophies and money. We can give all of those three. The coach will come into it more when there are a few teams vying for the same player. For us though, that is where Begiristain needs to work his magic, in enticing the right groups of players to the club and don't underestimate how well known both he and Soriano are on the continent.

I don't think we are going to be breaking the bank though for a lot of players, just one or two. I think we might see some more youth coming through over the next couple of seasons.

meltonblue wrote:In terms of us, I imagine we need to get some out of the door before we get people coming in.

I agree with most of what you say, Melton, but I'm just going to pick this one out because I suspect it may not be entirely accurate. I believe this was the plan last season, but it backfired massively because only one of our players was in any sort of demand - Balotelli - and we refused to sell him. However, we've got some big money contracts ending this season, plus the dosh from our eventual sale of the aforementioned mercurial Italian, which should enable us to net at least a couple of players, if nothing else.

But you are right, we don't need to go mad. Stability doesn't start and end with the manager and doing what Chelsea did last season isn't going to help us go forwards. If we pick up a striker who can actually score goals and another creative midfielder without selling anyone else, we'd still be far stronger than we are now.

Yep, agree Leo, I was thinking of the contracts that are ending as well when I said that. I just don't think we are going to have a major overhaul or anything like that.

One thing I think the club absolutely has to sort out is how they communicate to the fans and the media. We really haven't helped ourselves the last couple of weeks! Whoever we sign behind the scenes (both in terms of coaches to replace Mancinis that have gone and I hope to god a new pr team) is probably just as important as on the pitch!

I kind of agree that we don't need a massive clear out. After all, these are the players that won the title last year. What we need is very strong competition for coveted places such as CB, MF and attack. It's great that we have world class players such as Yaya, Komapny, Hart, Aguero and Tevez but I want them to always look over their shoulder at talented players that could take their spot in an instant.

The money we save paying Mario, Rocky and Bridge (about £300k p/w) is enough to pay the wages of two top players. I still believe we have plenty of money to splash (sale of Mario, new tv deal) to enable us to buy at least two top players and a couple of younger players with potential.

Reports are that Bale is going to sign a new £130k p/w contract with Spuds with a clause that he can leave next summer if someone offers £50M+. Let's hope for Levy's sake the boy doesn't get injured or lose form!