ITK update on Villa

Hot off the ITK press from Spurs Community...

Gutted that this didn't come off. Don't blame Levy or Franco this isn't their fault and along with Andre have all put a lot of effort in making this deal happen, we thought we had done enough and had put a very good deal on the table to both the player and the club and believed we had done everything we could to make it happen, confidence was high. Effectively the player has chosen to stay in Spain for his last few years, you could say he has bottled coming to the Prem for not stepping out of his comfort zone or label it with something else. It is disappointing the manager hasn't been able to get his number one target in the striking position. This however isn't the first or will be the last time this has happened. Work has now begun on option two, wheels are in motion- however this doesn't mean you will see someone holding up a shirt in the next 24 hours- be patient we will get a striker this window.

POTL

So there you have it.  POTL is one of the more reliable ITKers.  Whether its true or not, you have to take all ITK with a huge pinch of salt.

Does make sense though.  Why up sticks from Spain at the age of 32 when you can stay in Spain and play CL football. 

Supposed target Benteke submits transfer request

Is Benteke coming to give AVB a big hug?

Following the annoucement of Villa's move to Atletico Madrid yesterday afternoon, the Spurs boards were whipped up into a frenzy.

Who are Levy's transfer targets?

Well, around 11pm last night on the SSN breaking news ticker...Aston Villa's Benteke has handed in a transfer request.  Villa's statement confirmed the request but stressed they'd consider offers which matched their valuation of their 22 year old striker.

I'd read reports earlier this week that Villa has put a £25-30m valuation on his head to scare of potential suitors.

Do I think he's worth that money?  Not a chance.  More importantly, does Levy think he's worth that money?  I doubt it very much.  To spend a hefty fee on a youngster with only one year of playing in the Premier League would be madness.

Does anyone remember Michael Ricketts?

Having looked at the Spurs boards this morning, there are rumours that a young forward has recently visited the Spurs training ground.  Makes you wonder whether Levy has been in his ear...

Missing out on David Villa...a blessing in disguise?

Villa...hitching a ride to Madrid...

Around 4pm today, another significant move in the transfer window affecting Tottenham Hotspur.  The ITK sources had been suggesting for some time, even as far back as May that Daniel Levy and the Spurs hierarchy had been in touch with Villa's representatives in an attempt to get him to agree a move to London.

No such luck it appears.  My old buddy Chandra reported through FB that SSN had just run a story that Barcelona has agreed a deal in principle to sell David Villa to Atletico Madrid.

Cue every Spurs message board going into the usual meltdown...

How could we miss out on him?
Why is Levy so bloody tight, Atletico are only buying him for £4.1m?

...and so it went on.

Lets not forget.  Villa turns 32 in November and is already on wages of over £100k per week at Barcelona. Signing him would be a major shift in policy where by Levy's successful business model see's Spurs bring in players with sell on values or if experienced players were brought in, the transfer fees would be minimal.

Now ok, its clear Villa would bring a huge deal of experience to a faltering Tottenham forward line.  There's little doubt that the front line was the key reason why Spurs failed in their main aim of CL qualification last season.  However, he broke his foot last year and was out injured for almost 8 months.

So, whether Spurs went in for him or not, I'm almost relieved that we havent signed him.  I'd much rather us bring in a younger player.

May be coincidence but Ars*nal allegedly have had a bid of around £30m turned down by Liverpool for Luis Suarez today.  Ars*nal have been quite openly in talks with Real Madrid of Higuain in recent weeks.  Now you wonder why all of a sudden that Ars*nal have shifted their attentions elsewhere.  What is going on with Higuain.  Surely Ars*nal knew that Liverpool would turn a £30m bid down without question?  Are Ars*nal trying to force Real Madrid's hand?

Its common knowledge that Spurs have a high level special "relationship" with Real which was part of the Luca Modric transfer.  Spurs fans have been wondering for a while how Spurs would actually benefit from this relationship.  Maybe we may see some fruit now?

In other news, Everton have signed striker Kone from Wigan Athletic today, reuniting him with Roberto Martinez.  I think that is an excellent signing for Everton.  Kone was one of the bright lights in a very poor Wigan side last season.  

In conclusion, now Villa isnt happening, it does beg the question what are Levy's attacking transfer targets?  All we can do it wait in anticipation...and secretly prepare ourselves for the disappointment we usually feel the day after the transfer window closes!

Foam roller revelation

As you'll know from my posts over the last week, my knee injury has been concerning me.  I've identified the cause (the misalligned cleats on my cycling shoes) and the diagnosis was "runners knee", tendonitis of the patella tendon in the knee, the central anterior tendon/ligament.

Having done some research during my lunch hour today, it appears the main treatment for this is strength work and massage for the quadricep.  So, I had the brain wave of using my foam roller on my quad to see if it would help. Having googled specifically for foam roller exercises for inner thighs (I'm trying to target the tear drop part of my quad, nearest the knee), I found a great little article on mens health for foam roller exercises, which I've linked on the other fitness links to the right (over here >>>>>)

A quick ten minute session on the thighs before and after tonight's run seem to have done the knee the absolute world of good.  Dont get me wrong, it hasnt cured the problem completely, there still is a little discomfort in the knee but it is nowhere near as bad as it was previously.

Anywhere, here's tonights run, a short 1 lap loop of the Plumstead Runners Cross Country course...

I have to admit the knee felt really uncomfortable through the first mile but after that it settled down.

Came back home after the 5 miles and done an equivelent Gym weights and Swiss Ball routine before stretching out on the foam roller.

An hour later, absolutely minimum discomfort in the knee. Here's hoping the rolling of the quad is the cure.

Knee update...

Well the knee seems to have reacted as expected over night.

Its a little sore but not too bad.  The major test though was when the usual 07:39 Welling to Cannon St crawled into Welling station at 07:43 which meant the normal 6 min wait between trains at New Cross was scuttled down to about a minute (taking into account the usual faffle cause by the signals and other trains at Lewisham) which meant ensuing chaos on the two stairwells between the two platforms which ultimately saw me sprint both at full pace to ensure I got my connection.  The knee reacted ok but I have to admit its a little sore.  I can certainly feel it.

Not sure what course of action to take this evening.  Usually I would be training but I may have to take the low impact route.  Swimming?  Maybe hit the treadmill in the Gym and see how it reacts.  Still not confident enough to get back on the bike as that seriously aggravated the knee last time around.

Testing the knee...

After dropping Izzy home to Clare (the ex-wife), I decided to give the knee a test and run a medium pace 10k.

Knee felt ok throughout. Not 100% but more a nagging doubt in the head rather than a nagging discomfort.

Ran to the We Anchor in Hope for a pint with RW. Knee felt a bit sore after 30 minutes or so, so grabbed some ice from behind the bar and used a tea towel to make a makeshift icepack and kept it on the knee for about 20 minutes as a precautionary measure. Will have to see how the knee reacts tomorrow morning.

Knee update

Its now almost 6 days since I injured my knee and I have to say its is still nowhere near 100%.

I thought I was clever giving it a test on Thursday in the Gym but I'm not sure now whether it was the best thing to do. Once I changed my cleats over on Thursday evening, I was in so much discomfort on the bike in only 1.5 miles, it was clear it was no where near right and it still seems to be the case.

As it stands, depending on what way I hold the leg, I can feel it. Its not a pain, its a discomfort. Its difficult to describe but its certainly nagging away at me. For me to have 5 days off training out of a possible 6, you know it is significant. I'm going to take it easy today and give it one more day and see how I feel tomorrow. 

I have to say, I'm concerned. I've got less than a month until the RideLondon race and I really would like to be able to ride 2 or 3 decent length rides before I tackle it but time is beginning to run out.