The Lost Left Generation

Tottenham's transfer policy is hardly the envy of the Premiership. The amount of money we have pissed up the wall on unproven and ultimately useless players can only be explained as Levy's form of self-harm. Generally it takes one of two paths: the unpolished foreign gem or the home-grown British youngster, and neither have met with particular success. On the foreign scene there was Atouba, Taraabt, Prince Boateng, Rocha, Gilberto and the one who's name even Dumbledore fears to speak...(in hushed whispers)...Rebrov. I am all for bringing through and blooding English youngsters but our policy of judging and nurturing talent seems to be equally flawed. First there was Darren “Tw*tter” Bent and whilst the donkey got goals, most of them were off his shin, the side of his face, his elbow etc etc. Hardly £18 million worth of Premiership gold. Bentley has been another expensive 'flop' and can be added to the likes of Routledge and Ricketts in promising so much and delivering so little. There are exceptions of course, with the stand out candidate being little Lennon, and some of the academy boys (Bostock and Rose especially) are showing a good level of development.

Yet in no position has this transfer policy failed us more than where we most need it, the difficult left side. At the moment 'Arry seems to be content with Modric pulling the strings out on the flank like the little Croatian puppet master he is. A number of people have criticised this saying Modric is 'wasted out there', citing his weak left and his tendency to cut in. Personally I disagree. The great problem Tottenham has experienced over the last few seasons is the inability to boss the middle of the park. With Sergeant Wilson adding some much needed bite and rumours of another enforcer like Sandro being brought in, we should not risk softening our centre with a lightweight Luka. So for the time being, until we get the little fella into the gym and on the same stuff Defoe is taking, Modric should stay on the left. However, when that most controversial of all topics 'squad strength' is mentioned we find ourselves with a problem. If Modric gets injured/suspended and with O'Hara out on loan, suddenly the burden falls onto the diminutive shoulders of Dos Santos.

This boy is surely the greatest example of a 'typical' Spurs buy. Unveiled to the Tottenham faithful with the fanfare of being Ronaldinho's successor, he was going to set the Premiership alight. Fair play to him, he's young and he came into a struggling side. On top of that every player should be given a season of grace to 'adapt' to our fine and apparently quite physical league (try telling the SPL that). Nevertheless, for whatever reason, 'Arry doesn't like him; first shunting him off on loan to Ipswich and then trying to flog him to Pompey. The persistent rumour is that he is a big drinker and rocks up to training late and hungover. If that is the case why hasn't he been fined, why haven't the press made more of a fuss? A far more coherent reason can be seen in the breakdown of his transfer to Pompey when he failed a medical. Suddenly it seems as though Barca may have known something we didn't. The spurs medical staff knew he had knee problems but perhaps these are considerably more serious than first thought. You don't have to be a be-spectacled, bald club chairman to realise a crocked teenager won't make much at market. Glue factory anyone?

In much the same way, our other great left sided prospect Gareth Bale has faded into obscurity despite indications of interest from Milan and Martin Jol. Maybe the Tottenham staff are more superstitious than we had previous thought. Perhaps our young monkey faced prodigy is locked inside his house whilst 'Arry, pitchfork in hand, leads a jeering, torch bearing mob chanting 'Witch, Witch!'. This, however, is unlikely. Mr Redknapp hardly seems the type to believe in 'a load of old tosh' about jinxes and curses. So, injuries aside, why has Bale failed to even feature on the bench? Benoit Assou Ekotto does not have an understudy and in the Darlington game Hutton was forced to shift over the the left. Safe to say he looked more uncomfortable than Cashley Cole when being questioned about his great friendship with George Michael. The lad showed a bit of rashness in his positioning and tackling but I, and many others, thought he looked like a good prospect. Clearly, with persistent ITK reports of bids for Petrov and Belhadj, the club do not feel that Bale and Giovanni are up to the task.

Dos Santos looked good against Doncaster but if there are problems off the pitch then let him go. The last thing we need is another heavy boozer who might lead our dear, naïve Ledders into trouble again (I'm fairly sure it was Dos Santos framing Ledley anyway). I would like to hang on to Bale, he's still young and can play anywhere on the left flank. Oh and he hits the ball so sweetly it brings tears to my eyes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqhoK0QWAXs

However if the boys at the top think he doesn't cut the mustard then so be it...

In 'Arry We Trust