The time has come to speak about Bale...

Time for me to open my trap about the Bale saga.

I've resisted temptation so far because quite frankly, I could have written a dissertation, a War & Peace-length epic about my thoughts on the subject.

As I've said time and time again, Spurs is run well by Levy and I trust Levy implicitly.

Let me be honest for a moment here.  Bale isnt worth what Real Madrid will end up paying for him.  I would have snapped your hand off the the £40-50m which was quoted for him at the end of last season.  Bale was world-class for the last six months.  Before that, was he?  No.  In my opinion he's still far too inconsistent.  He still spends a lot of time on the periphery of games, unlike Ronaldo and Messi.  He is nowhere near that standard, yet.

Therefore, as I've said before, Bale could go with my blessing as long as (i) Levy got the fee he wanted and (ii) that fee was used to get in replacements before and not after Bale was sold.

As it turns out, Levy has managed to bring in the likes of Chadli, Paulinho, Soldado and Capoue so it is business well done so far with maybe the likes of Lamela and Erikksen to come.  If selling Bale financed 5-6 players with potential later sell-on values coming in, then it is very good business indeed.

There is no sticking point here.  Bale has three years left of his contract.  The offer of a new contract was on the table to make him the highest earner in history at White Hart Lane but he chose not to sign it.  So there is absolutely no doubt that he was either going to be sold now or at the end of this season, otherwise Spurs would be sitting on another potential "Bosman", whereby he would be free to walk away at the end of his contract and Spurs wouldnt be entitled to a transfer fee.

So it was all down to Levy to squeeze every last penny out of Real Madrid.  It shouldnt go unnoted that Madrid still owe Levy & Spurs to the tune of £20m for the transfer of Luka Modric.  Had Bale been not for sale, the club would have made a statement.

Real Madrid have previous for the way they encourage their transfer targets to behave.  You only have to look at the Modric transfer for proof.

Real Madrid have been antagonising Levy with a presentation stage being built at the Bernebau, Bale shirts being sold in their club shops.  They've kept plugging away until Levy has snapped.

Spurs would have asked Bale to keep a dignified silence through the transfer dealings this summer otherwise it would potentially jeopardise Levy's negotiating position.  Until today, he has kept his side of the bargain.  Until today.

This morning, an unofficial statement leaked to SSN via his agent via Jim White, indicating that he had no intention of returning to the Tottenham training ground.  He has affection for the club and especially the fans but he hopes they understand his position.  Various reports indicated he had missed training for a second day and now AVB has confirmed that he has taken "unauthorised" leave from training.

So there we have it.  Bale is on strike to get his transfer.

Well Mr Bale, I've kept quiet until now. For the squeaky-clean "Brand Bale" image you're trying to create, for all that love you feel for Spurs and "especially the fans", by going on strike, you've basically stuck your middle finger up at THFC and the fans that have paid your wages.  A very sour note for you to end your career at Spurs, dont you think?

You've shown a total disrepect to the club, to AVB and to the fans.  I'm just so disappointed with you.  No one was going to begrudge you a world-record transfer to Madrid but this makes you no better than Modric or Berbatov.  A sulky footballer not getting what they want.  Fair play to you, you've served Spurs well but I'll give you two seasons in Spain at the most before you fail and end up back in the Premier League.  You're not in the same class as Messi and Ronaldo and you never will be.  By the way, whoever told you that pink t-shirt and baseball cap was a good look?  I'd consider sacking them if I were you.  But then again, if I were you, I'd be happy staying at Spurs playing for the team I love.

If Spurs wasnt run like a business and money didnt talk, I'd love to see Levy stick by his guns, refuse to sell you to Madrid and let you rot in the reserves.  Petchulant little f*cker.  

Bale...soon to be the only Welshman in Madrid.

Spurs v Espanyol friendly at WHL...impressions and thoughts

Roberto Soldado scored his first Spurs goal at WHL from the spot...

Spurs finished their pre-season programme with a sell out at WHL against Espanyol.

The game finished 1-1.  Roberto Soldado opened his account for Spurs from the spot midway through the first half after Danny Rose was brought down in the box, although the replays showed it was a tad harsh on the Espanyol defender.

In typical Spurs fashion, Spurs failed to defend a near-post set piece, conceding just before half-time.  The second half turned into a feisty, scrappy affair but a draw was a fair result.

The biggest cheer of the day was on the 60 minute mark when Sandro "The Beast" Raniere made his first appearance this rupturing his knee ligaments in the QPR game back in January.  Kaboul played the full second half too and it was absolutely brilliant to see the two power-houses back in the side.  I certainly feel full of optimism with both of them back.

Without wanting to go into a full review of the game, I wanted to pick up on a few observations:

• Danny Rose - may have won the penalty and looked ok going forward but he is not a left-back.  Still far too much to learn.  I dont know what Disco Benny has done to upset AVB but surely BAE is the better option at left-back?  (As Chandra rightly pointed out in the Gym, both Vertonghen and Fryers can play the position so we do have cover there even without BAE anywhere near the starting XI.)  Talking BAE, comments he made on Twitter over the weekend seem to suggest he will be leaving sooner rather than later.  If this happens, I'll pay my personal tribute to him later.
• Soldado - only played 60 mins but if he works as hard as he did in very game for Spurs like he did in that 60 mins, we've got one hell of a centre-forward on our hands.  Looked sharp throughout, always looking to come off the shoulder of the last man, looked comfortable dropping deep to receive and lay off, looked good in the channels.  Impressed.
• Chadli - saw a bit of him last weekend against Monaco and he looked as though he was a little nervous and took a few touches too many at times but he looked much more composed.   Linked up well with Soldado, Dembele and Rose down the left, especially an excellent little flick around the corner for Rose.  Good work rate.  Impressed.
• Paulinho - looked very good.  Good use of the ball, good work rate, good link up with Dembele.  Scored with a header early in the first half but was incorrectly ruled out for off side.  Excellent 60 mins.
• Kaboul and Sandro - great to have them back in the side.  Fabulous.  Read AVBs thoughts on the returning pair here

Sandro...aka The Beast back in the side

Of course, the main TV footage by ITV concentrated on the one issue that we're all sick of right now.  Gareth Bale.  In the quick pre-match interview, AVB said Bale is still suffering from a sore foot.  You could tell he didnt mean it.  I'm assuming he's off.  To be quite honest, for anything in the region of £85m+ he can go with my blessing.

Spurs are looking good right now with or without him.

 

He was born to play for Spurs...oh and so was he...but he wasnt

The Marca headline...Levy wants £120m (€145m) for the Welsh Lionel Messi

I've kept fairly tight lipped over the stories coming out in the media during the last week.

The Real Madrid propaganda-machine has been in full war-mode, saying Bale want to go to the Bernebau and Levy has rejected a world record offer of in excess of £85m.  Yes, thats right, EIGHTY-FIVE MILLIONS POUNDS.  That is absolutely insane.  The Spanish economy is on its knees and one of the Prima Liga clubs is looking at spending the equivalent of 2 years budget of a small to medium-sized acute A&E hospital on a single footballer, one who is far from the finished article, only has a year on Champions League experience and still tends to drift in and out of games and doesnt take them by the scruff of the neck on a regular basis.  My opinion of course but even so, £85m is an insane amount of money.  If the ITK is to be believed, the official offer on the table is £90m + Madrid's left back Fábio Coentrão.  Some of the more reputable ITKers suggest that no such offer exists and Bale will be staying for at least one more season.

Spurs have remained quiet.  Classy.  Something Real Madrid could never in a million years understand. However, the silence coming out of WHL is deafening.  You only have to read the message boards to see that the Spurs fans are waivering in their support for Levy.

I think Oliver Holt's article in the Daily Mirror sums the situation up best.  Read it here.

At the end of the day, the way I see it, Spurs are in a win-win situation.  If Bale stays, we've got a great chance of doing something memorable this season.  If Levy decides to sell, all of a sudden AVB gets a huge war chest and the possibility of bringing in 2-3 world class players into an already talent-laden squad promises big things. With the return of Kaboul and Sandro into the squad, the squad is looking much healthier.

In the last 24 hours, there has also been significant transfer dealings going on behind the scenes.  Firstly, a surprise one, Stephen Caulker has been sold to newly promoted Cardiff City for around £8m.  Seemed to have come out of the blue this transfer but it appears that Caulker wasnt going to be first choice so he decided to move for regular first team football at this stage of his career and you cant deny him that.

The biggest news, however, is Spurs have finally formally announced the signing of Valencia hitman Roberto Soldado for a club record £25.8m, after Levy met his release clause.  Well thats what Valencia want everyone to believe but I'm led to believe the fee is around £22m.

Soldado:  11caps for Spain, 6 goals...

Hugely exciting times ahead.  Levy (with the help of Baldini) has finally brought a 20-30 goal-a-season man to Tottenham for the first time since the days of Clive Allen, Gary Lineker and Jurgen Klinsmann.

Welcome to THFC, Roberto.  All you need to do is smash a 5 min hat-trick against the Gooners in the Cameldome and you'll become a hero forever more.  Not much to ask.

Best wishes to Stephen Caulker too.  Always gave his all for Spurs in the few games he had.

Now we patiently await formal word from Levy and Spurs re: Bale.  I've got a feeling this one will run and run until the end of the transfer window.