Bleacher Report - Articles by Leon Toghill

Tottenham Prospects Out On Loan

Leon Toghill — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:34:59 -0400

Tottenham have shipped two academy prospects out on loan for them to gain some vital experience as they hope to battle through the ranks and become regular starters for Tottenham Hotspur's first team.

Czech Republic U21 Striker Tomas Pekhart has been loaned to Southampton until the end of the season.

The 19 year old was the reserves top scorer last season and will make his English debut at St Marys after his move from Slavia Prague in 2006.

Charlie Daniels (21) is the other, a left sided defender/midfielder, who has been loaned to Leyton Orient and Chesterfield in the past, will join League Two side Gillingham for one month.

These join the other Spurs prospects Leigh Mills and Simon Dawkins out on loan.

Russian Star Pavlyuchenko Claims Spurs Deal

Leon Toghill — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:13:34 -0400

Roman Pavlyuchenko has claimed he is set to complete a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

The 26-year-old Russia international striker has been linked with a move to Spurs all summer.

Now it appears that the North London outfit have sealed a deal with his club Spartak Moscow.

Speaking to Uefa's Russian website, Pavlyuchenko confirmed he had not travelled with the rest of the Spartak squad for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kiev as he was finalising the details of his move to Spurs.

"I am back in Moscow and I will not play in Kiev, and I can confirm I am going to Tottenham," he told uefa.ru.

"I am waiting for a Visa and as soon as it is granted, I am ready to go to England and sign."

Pavlyuchenko revealed he was yet to discuss the move with Spurs boss Juande Ramos.

"Juande Ramos, I have not yet met, it seems like he will call me—but I know for sure he is very interested in my services," he continued.

Not a done deal

Spartak spokesman Eduard Nisenboim has told the Russia media that the deal is not yet signed.

"I would prefer it if the deal was described as very close," said Nisenboim.

"At the moment the papers have not yet been signed—we have only reached a verbal agreement with the England club."

News of Tottenham's move for Pavlyuchenko will cast further doubt over Dimitar Berbatov's future at the club.

Manchester United are desperately trying to prise the Bulgarian away from Tottenham—but as yet have been unable to strike a deal.

LATEST TRANSFER NEWS: Klass-Jan Dimitaar

Leon Toghill — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:33:40 -0400

Tottenham have resigned to fact that Dimitar Berbatov will be leaving within the next week to join Premier League Champions Manchester United. The evidence is convincing enough anyway, refusal to play, admitting publicly to his dream, and whets more he wasn't even in the squad that played Sunderland.

Juande Ramos has even lost his patience with the saga as he admitted yesterday, he wanted the problem resolved as soon as possible. And rightly so Juande.

Tottenham have been out as far as Argentina this week to seek a replacement for Robbie Keane, if you can call him replaceable. 22 year old Radamel Falcao has been watched since he was a teen by Ramos, and for Radamel's passion, work rate and slight temperament, plus the fact he's a bloody great finisher, he certainly sounds like more than a good enough replacement for Keane.

It's just what Tottenham need, some action up front, firepower. And for under £10 million, it would leave more than enough cash to replace the sulk in Berbatov. Tottenham have been attracted to Klass-Jan Huntelaar, a tall and elegant striker, wait a minute isn't that how we describe Berbatov?

Fantastic, little and large up front in Falcao and Huntelaar respectively. This is the latest transfer news from White Hart Lane, I will add Vedran Corluka is expected to be in London for talks soon as Manchester City are set to make a profit on the Croatian.

www.bebo.com/leontoghill

Juande Ramos - "El Tigre" is the Answer for Tottenham

Leon Toghill — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:22:35 -0400

Tottenham had representatives out in Argentina at the weekend to run the rule over a player that Ramos has been tracking for some time and it is believed that formal negotiations were opened with his current club River Plate.

With Robbie Keane's move to Liverpool and Berbatov's imminent departure Ramos is in search of two strikers to replace last season's first choice pairing.

Falcao is a scheming deep striker very much in the mould of Keane and would be a straight replacement. And at £7 million, buying the 22-year-old would leave sufficient funds for Ramos to find the proven target man he craves.

Atletico Madrid have slapped a £20 million price tag on the head of Diego Forlan, making a move for the Uruguayan unlikely, though having received £20 million for Keane and £25 million expected to be the compromise figure agreed for Berbatov, the possibility of reviving a move for Andrei Arshavin has not been discounted at White Hart Lane.

Falcao, who has 12 full caps for his country and so would easily qualify for a work permit in England, scored for River Plate, last season's Champions, and has been in good form in pre-season for the Argentineans.

Famed for having a fiery temperament, his full-blooded commitment to club and country has made him a popular figure with fans and he is both a goalscorer and creator that would fit within Ramos' vision of a swift, youthful attacking side.

www.bebo.com/leontoghill

Berba War Set to Continue as Spurs Push Star to Europe

Leon Toghill — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:26:14 -0400

The bitter war between Spurs and Manchester United looks set to continue over the transfer of Dimitar Berbatov. Fresh media reports this morning suggest the north Londoners would rather accept a cut-price bid of around £25 million for the striker from either Barcelona or AC Milan, than allow him to go to Old Trafford.

The two clubs have had a war of words battle all summer, with Tottenham even reporting the Champions League winners to the Premier League after it was alleged manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reported in the media as claiming he was going to sign the Bulgarian front man.

The Red Devils chief, however hit straight back about the accusations of unsettling the player, by stating that Tottenham would be “embarrassed” by their claim. In a new twist it then emerged yesterday that Ferguson has been miss quoted following a meeting with the Norwegian branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club.

But according to today's Sun it seems Spurs have become so incensed over the whole situation that they would rather lose around £million on the sale of Berbatov than allow him to join United now. According to the report Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola and Milan chief Carlo Ancelotti are keen admirers of the ex-Bayer Leverkusen star.

Barca ace Samuel Eto’o holds the key. The Catalan giants will only move for Berbatov, 27, if they can persuade the Cameroon striker to leave. Milan are also waiting to find out if they can land Eto’o before making a bid for Berbatov.

Gareth Barry Fits The Midfield Bill for Arsene Wenger

Leon Toghill — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:40:27 -0400

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal would be looking for one more defensive midfielder to support playmaker Cesc Fabregas as their summer transfer activity intensified.

"We need one more body," the Frenchman said, and he refused to deny that the man was Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa captain also being pursued by Liverpool.

Barry was jeered by Aston Villa's angry fans when he made his comeback for the club.

Barry, who is desperate to leave Villa, was thrown back into action against Walsall by manager Martin O'Neill.

It was an extremely uncomfortable return for the England midfielder, however.

He faced calls of "You're not fit to wear the shirt" by a large army of Villa fans at the Banks's Stadium.

Villa have rejected four bids from Liverpool for Barry, who missed the first two weeks of pre-season training when he was banned and fined by O'Neill after launching a stinging attack on the Villa chief.

O'Neill is holding out for a fee of £18 million for Barry and is refusing to accept a penny less.

Barry took his place in the centre of midfield in an under-strength Villa side against Walsall after recovering from an ankle injury that he picked up in training last week.

Despite his return to action, he seems unlikely to figure in the Villa side against Odense in the second leg of the InterToto Cup at Villa Park on Saturday. Barry remains adamant that he still wants to leave Villa.

Last week, in his first face-to-face meeting with O'Neill since his verbal attack on the former Celtic boss, he reaffirmed that he continues to hold out for a move to Liverpool.

Long-serving Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given last night expressed concern at the lack of new signings this summer at St James' Park.

The Republic of Ireland international has seen just Danny Guthrie and Jonas Gutierrez arrive during the transfer window and is hoping that more fresh faces will follow them to Tyneside before the new season.

Given, 32, said: "If you looked at our bench in the friendly at Hartlepool there were a lot of young lads on there, so we need to get a few more players in before the window closes and the chairman and the manager are working hard to do that."

Tainio Teems Up With Roy Keane

Leon Toghill — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:07:54 -0400

Tottenham have announced that they have reached an agreement with Sunderland for the transfer of Teemu Tainio, for a fee which is undisclosed.

The Finnish midfielder made 83 appearances for Tottenham, following his transfer from French side Auxerre in 2005.

Roy Keane will be delighted with the capture, as he looks to improve his Sunderland side and try to establish themselves as a Premier League team again.

Fergie filed to FA

Leon Toghill — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:04:58 -0400

SPURS have handed the Premier League a dossier of evidence from the past 12 months backing up their complaint against Manchester United’s pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov.

Sir Alex Ferguson has questioned the validity of quotes attributed to him last week, which led to the astonishing attack on him from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. But last week’s issues are only the latest in a series of incidents which Spurs believe amount to blatant tapping-up of their Bulgarian striker.

Spurs have been angered by United and Liverpool, who are chasing Robbie Keane, and the two clubs will write back in response to the complaints before it is decided whether they will face a charge.

Levy has accepted that Berbatov and Keane want to leave White Hart Lane and deals are likely to go through before the start of the season.

But there is expected to be huge fall-out from the transfers after Levy accused Ferguson of “sheer arrogance” and being “hypocritical”.

Spurs believe United have broken Premier League rules in the last year and are confident their evidence will support their complaint.

Berbatov, 27, interested United before moving to Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen in 2006, and has been consistently linked with a move to Old Trafford for Champions League football since his successful rookie season in England.

Levy’s criticism of Liverpool in his statement last week was less harsh—but there is a history of bad blood between him and Anfield boss Rafael Benitez.

In March 2006 the Liverpool boss claimed Spurs were “desperate” to sell Jermain Defoe and take Djibril Cisse, a statement which had Spurs fuming that their-then England striker was being unsettled by speculation.

TOTTENHAM have entered the race to sign Andrei Arshavin—and are willing to pay close to £16 million to land him.

Levy has already made an enquiry about the 27-year-old Russian, who was one of the stars of Euro 2008.

But Zenit St Petersburg are holding out for more than £21 million and hope to encourage a bidding war between Europe’s top clubs to drive up the asking price.

Zenit official Konstantin Sarsaniya said: “With Tottenham we have contacts. This English club is really interested in acquiring Andrei but, as I understand, £21.5m is too high a price for them.

“For Spurs it is unacceptable. Tottenham are ready to pay in the region of £15.9m for Arshavin.”

Spurs will not take part in an auction for Arshavin and are hoping Zenit lower their valuation after he accused them of pricing him out of a move.

The player’s dream move to Barcelona has so far failed to materialise, and while Chelsea and Arsenal have also shown interest, Sarsaniya claimed speculation linking Manchester City with a move was wide of the mark.

(Daily Star)

The future is bright, the future is white. But patience is the key

Leon Toghill — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:13:57 -0400

The last three seasons for Tottenham have been quite pleasing, two consecutive fifth place finishes, a return to Europe, and a Carling Cup win, its something any Spurs fan would have taken this time four years ago.

Tottenham have re-established themselves as a team with great potential, a team that go and challenge for domestic trophies and European trophies, and even break themselves into the top four.

Think back to Martin Jol's first full season in charge, we were sitting at fourth spot for so long, it was ours, and Champions League football was around the corner, all we had to do was beat West Ham on the final day, but it didn't happen.

Arsenal of all teams then took over us and pinched it by a point. Food poisoning wasn't it? Pathetic excuse more like, celebrating a good season before it had even ended I bet.

He did the same the second season, we recovered from a bumpy start and retained fifth spot. The future looked bright, Martin Jol looked capable of taking Tottenham forward again, and the fans loved him.

But it was only so far he could take us in the end, and to be honest its a good thing, it shows a manager taking a mid table team who were amongst the likes of Fulham at the time into an area they had never really been, he took the team up a level or two. Beyond his limits. We now needed someone who could take us further.

Juande Ramos, probably holding the best record in the world at the time as far as success goes, came to Tottenham. Yes it was disappointing to see Jol go, but the fact Juande had came, knowing his record at Sevilla and his love and passion for football, it was all too exciting.

It took him just months to get a trophy, months. It took god knows how many managers and nine whole years for the others, but it took Juande this long. He brought in players like Woodgate, who toughened us up in the back, Hutton, who added an extra dimension to our attack from right back.

Not to forget Gilberto, who did nothing really, he scored on his Premier League debut and filled in at left back for the remainder of the season. Go back to Berlin tbh. (Bale's the man.)

We had a partnership in attack which was one of the best in the Premier League, in Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. But now they are going, no Spurs fan wants them to (obviously), but they will, they have said they want to, they therefore have to go.

£25 million for Berbatov or there abouts, £20 million for Keane, its huge money. Both players are reaching the point where they want more, if they stay they'll become unhappy and they're commitment will just vanish (Berba for gods sake).

He's a moody b****** it's best for him to go and join the Old Trafford sulking culture and get ourselves £25m out of him. Keane on the other hand, he's the last person on the squad I'd like to see go, but £20 million for Keane is a one time offer for a player who most would value at no more than £15m. And next season he'll be worth even less.

From the £45—£50 million we could get from these two players, in their late 20's, we can invest in the likes of David Bentley (23), Roman Pavlyuchenko (26) and Diego Capel (20). We could buy people like Diego Milito who is a far better finisher compared to Robbie Keane, and that's saying something.

Luka Modric, who has been brought in, I heard somewhere, somebody saying that he is the best midfielder in Europe right now, he just lacks physicality for the Premier League, or something like that. How do you know?

He plays international football, and he's fantastic, he made team of the tournament for Euro 2008. It proves he's capable of playing on the same pitch as people like Michael Ballack, and making them look stupid, he out minded him in every move he made when Croatia beat Germany 2-1.

Giovani Dos Santos, the last game he played for Barca he scored a hat-trick, and he's kept Ronaldinho out of the squad for some time, competing with Thierry Henry for a place, need I say more?

Heurelho Gomes, for a long time has been one the greatest in Europe, the good news on this transfer sees the end of Paul Robinson, he'll go on to play for Aston Villa or somebody and become amazing like David James. I'll take bets?

These new signings are great, and with Ramos far from finished in the market, even more can be added to that list.

But patience is the key to all this top four drama, people say we won't do it, we will, but not tomorrow or the day after, Ramos will begin his first full season August 16th, and things will map out from there, and its all looking good.