Source: FOOTYMAD
Spurs and the Media Circus
After all of the fire and fury in news stories this past week featuring Luka Modric, Daniel Levy, and even Michael Dawson, Tottenham will fly out to South Africa with the entire, non-injured, first team squad. That means I can now rest much easier... Our diminutive Croat will travel out with the rest of the squad amidst his vehement interview with a Croatian newspaper, where he called out Daniel Levy as being “arrogant,” as well as using other words that undermined the chairman. Without a response from Levy, who is standing surprisingly firm to his word, all the supporters have to find comfort in is Harry Redknapp’s insistence that the midfielder will not be sold at any price. This never-ending story seemed to be wrapping up last weekend when Levy remarked to Sky Sports News after his meeting with Modric that the Croat “understood” the position and joined up for pre-season training. Sadly, it seems that it could be prolonged but I remain fully confident our 2010-2011 Club POY will remain a Tottenham player for at least this season. I’ve heard mixed feelings from other supporters; some are calling for the club to sell Modric for an outstanding price while his head is turned (roughly over £40m), while others feel we will never rise as a club if we sell our most influential player. For me, I side with the latter statement. After having tasted the promised land of the Champions League this past season and seeing our players exceed everything imagined from an inexperienced European side, deteriorating our squad will leave minimal if any chance of regaining our place among Europe’s elite. Thankfully, we can see the status of our squad through training photos on the club website, and from what I’ve seen so far, Modric seems to be getting on well with the team. All recent photos show no seeming disruption between him and the rest of the squad. He’s even smiling and laughing in a few, surely a welcome sight for any Spurs supporter. Hopefully his expressions will be the same during, and after the three exhibitions at the Vodacom Challenge in South Africa. As for the other, less documented players, Michael Dawson’s name sprouted up in the media today after The Sun ran an outlandish article stating the captain was unhappy with the club. This came as much of a surprise to Michael Dawson as it did to me and the captain thankfully, and strongly refuted the newspaper’s claims on the club website, stating he had “no idea where the story has come from” and that he has had “absolutely no fallout with anyone whatsoever.” Daws’ swift response came as no surprise to me as it seems he is one of the few players nowadays who lives to play for this club, showing respect for Tottenham on and off the pitch. From the story, the only thing I can think about now is how it seems some media services are out to antagonize the club and all of the supporters. I’ve read next to nothing along the same lines about any other British club this summer and frankly, it seems everything pertaining to the club is being scrutinized, whether truthful or not. With everything said, the next two weeks or so will be a welcome respite from the so far agitating summer. Though we’ve only seen two signings, Brad Friedel and the ex-Barcelona 18-year old Cristian Ceballos, it seems there could be something in the works with Redknapp staying behind in London until Sunday while the team jets to South Africa. The weekend has the potential to be very exciting for Spurs supporters and I know will be engrossed in Saturday’s friendly with Kaiser Chiefs, as well as newswire, searching for any rumours regarding transfers in and out of Tottenham Hotspur. —A truly eleventh-hour edit— Daily Mail released an article at 11:02pm on Wednesday claiming Luka has handed in a written transfer request prior to travelling to SA. Written venting to follow if claims substantiated tomorrow...
