Thread by @SpursWebSeb

Why I will not be attending the ENIC protest on Monday and why I'm still very calm about the January transfer window despite losing out on Traore and Diaz... A THREAD

I want to start by just reinforcing, this is my opinion. I'm not trying to convey it as fact or the only opinion out there and I welcome debate. The community I'm trying to create here is all about friendly debate over nastiness and trolling, so feel free to embrace that.

I'll cover the ENIC protest section of the thread first and why I won't be attending. As far as I understand it, a number of Spurs fans are going to protest against Levy and the owners for the 'profit over glory' accusation. This just isn't something I relate to.

As Spurs fans, we all get frustrated during transfer windows, with this one being a perfect example. It seemed as if we were getting Traore... until it didn't. Then repeat for the whole Diaz situation. Who next? With a few days to go, maybe even no one.

However, I feel we are all a little guilty of comparing Spurs to the teams we have been fighting against for the past five-ten years. We are not Man United, Chelsea, Man City, or Liverpool. We just aren't on those levels and won't be for a long time.

Some of these clubs have bucket loads of money to throw at mindless signings no matter the time, place or context. Some, like Liverpool, are having great success at the moment and have this incredible history to fall back on, which attracts players.

Tottenham do not have a long history of success in the modern era. We don't have loads of spare money. We do not have Champions League football. Essentially, our main draws at the moment are Conte, being based in London, and a lovely new stadium.

As such, we have to continually punch above our weight in the transfer market, as seen this month. Bigger clubs have the stature to come and blow us out the water. Both Barcelona and Liverpool did that within the past 24 hours, simply because they are bigger names.

It has been widely reported that Tottenham did indeed have a deal with Wolves for Traore, but he preferred Barca. It has also been widely reported that Spurs matched Liverpool in the race for Diaz, but he preferred a move to Merseyside. There's literally nothing you can do there.

People cannot accuse Tottenham of not being ambitious and going for big names or top targets this January. In a window where very few moves actually happen, Spurs made their shortlist and put some competitive offers in, only to be beaten by player preference.

That is likely going to happen a lot during the rebuild. If a star player is given two choices - Tottenham or a huge Champions League club winning regular silverware, there is only going to be one winner. It's about picking up shrewd deals, player swaps, and just plugging away.

Fabio Paratici is a master of creating unique deals and sourcing impressive swaps/free transfers, etc. I have no doubts that stuff will happen in the summer. I think the one frustration I have an understand is the delay Spurs always seem to have.

Levy and co love to wait until the end of the transfer window to get the best deals. Fair enough, but if a deal then falls through, you leave yourself with no time to find alternatives, as we are seeing a little at the moment.

I would love to see Spurs lock an early deal in during each transfer window just to get the ball rolling and guarantee at least one small step forward from the market. It just puts the fans at ease and offers a little more security, but I'm no transfer expert.

I think the main complaint I have never understood is a lack of investment from ENIC/Tottenham in players. In my opinion, this is a bit of a myth and completely detracts from what I consider to be the real problem.

In Pochettino's final summer, Spurs spent £54m on Tanguy Ndombele, £24m on Ryan Sessegnon, £42m on Giovani Lo Celso and £10m on Jack Clarke. Of course, Spurs went a whole 18 months without a signing before that, which was ridiculous, but still.

Jose Mourinho was then handed a whole load of new players. Steven Bergwijn for £27m. Sergio Reguilon for £27m, Matt Doherty for £15m, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for £15m, Joe Rodon for £10m, Joe Hart on a free, then Gareth Bale and Carlos Vinicius on loan.

There was no landmark signing in there (beyond Bale on loan), but Mourinho was handed a lot more strength in depth during a very difficult COVID-19 summer transfer window. There were certainly no complaints from anyone at the time.

Fast forward to the summer just gone, with Nuno and Paratici coming in - Bryan Gil was brought in for £22m plus Lamela, Emerson Royal for £23m, Pape Sarr for £15m, Cristian Romero for around £40m, and Pierluigi Gollini on loan. Another £100+m despite COVID times.

Now, where I think Spurs have fallen short is recruitment. 100% agree there. We have spent money on the wrong players and wrong positions at the wrong times. However, I don't feel you can argue that money was not spent... because it just was.

Over those transfer windows alone, around £333m was spent on outgoings, with around £100m being earned through sales. Plus Spurs have not had Champions League football since 2019 - not even Europa League this season. That's a lot of money spent!

Profit over glory? I'm not so sure about this either. Admittedly I have no idea about the inner finances of the club. However, what I do know is that it's been built to remain sustainable. In short, the money spent comes from the money earned.

As far as I know, I don't think Joe Lewis turns up every 12 months, takes half the pot and stuffs it in his pocket. Refusing to pump the club full of money and bleeding it dry for profits are very very different things. And again, I think it comes down to comparing ourselves.

Football has almost become more about how much the owners are willing to spend than actually earning success. And to be honest, I don't want Joe Lewis or any other owner to come in and give us stupid money to throw around. It takes the fun out of everything.

And I think that right there is the main reason I'm not ENIC out and won't be going to any protests. Because I think if every club in the world HAD to operate like Tottenham, the sport would be so much more fun to watch.

Essentially like a really strict FFP to level the playing field, making every club spend within their means, rather than throwing money at player after player until something sticks. Look at Man City. It is impossible for them to lose with the pool they are sitting on.

I quite like how Tottenham are run as a sustainable club and have to really build something to have a chance at success, like we did under Pochettino. So yeah, I really have no problems with the ownership, I just think we need to change what we actually do with the money we have.

There have been too many transfer failings in recent years, spending a lot of money on players who fail to cement a place in the starting XI and are either sold at a loss or prove impossible to shift again. I won't name names, but Spurs have had few recent transfer successes.

I'm hoping that Levy handing over some power to Paratici and having a footballing mastermind like Conte in charge will go some way to changing things. After all, they have both proven themselves over long careers and have consistently signed the right players to win trophies.

Of course, there are some things I would change about the Spurs ownership. Using furlough, signing us up to the Super League, etc - none of these things were good looks for us. But I really don't mind how they run the club and the money they put into transfers.

Moving onto this January transfer window, again, the thing I have been frustrated with is the delay. It felt as if the window didn't start for us until January 25th. Since then, Traore and Diaz have been and gone, Amrabat is still a maybe, and still zero signings for Spurs.

But as I say, they clearly had their top two targets in Traore and Diaz, but Barcelona and Liverpool swooped in at the eleventh hour. That's just plain unlucky and nothing could have been done to avoid that. However, the window will be defined by how they bounce back.

Is there a plan B? Will Kulusevski come in instead of Diaz? Will Amrabat actually be signed? Are there any other tricks up Paratici's sleeve? To end the window without a single signing would be a disaster.

Having said that, if we were able to get Amrabat and Kulusevski in a tricky January window, I would rate that as a very successful dip into the market, especially if Conte rates them both - which I can only assume he does.

I also think departures are just as important for Spurs as signings this month. Loans, sales, swaps, options to buy etc - all of that points to more money for us to spend now and in the summer, as well as space in the squad and wages off the books.

People like Dele, Lo Celso, and Ndombele are clearly not fancied by Conte. I don't like to name names but he has made that much clear. All three are great players and I'm sure will have success elsewhere, but they need to be moved on for the good of all involved.

After all, I suspect Conte won't use them whether they stay or go. Therefore, it makes far much more sense to take whatever you can get for them and reinvest over the next six months, whether it be now or the summer. Keeping them solves nothing.

Tottenham have been guilty of that in the past. Not only making the wrong signings, but also not knowing when to cut your losses and call it a day. Leaving players to sit in the squad, become stale, lose more and more value - they only become harder to shift.

It means the squad stands still year after year because you can't make room/money for new faces. Just take a cut-price exit (that's the only way at this point) and rebuild - with an emphasis on getting the signings right in the first place next time.

It feels to me as if Tottenham, under the guidance of Conte, are finally understanding that. He has to be harsh and cut-throat in his decisions, but big names have to leave in order for Spurs to move forward again.

I really don't think there is any risk of Conte walking because Tottenham couldn't sign a big name in a difficult January window. And I honestly think there is going to be a big rebuild under him in the summer, hopefully, one to get excited about.

However, it would be incredible if Spurs could kickstart that rebuild by getting two new faces in and a few out the door in the next few days. At least this would be a step in the right direction and a promise of things to come.

Let's wait and see what happens in the coming days. But I'm excited and confident about the path Spurs are on at the moment under Conte, providing we can back him with the right kind of signings.

Forever the optimist, that's just where my head's at with Spurs and ENIC at the moment. I have no problems with investment and how the club is run financially, but I would to see a reform of the scouting system so we can thrive under a world-class manager. Fingers crossed. #COYS