Dormant Deadline Day For Spurs

Eternal sunshine of a spotless balance sheet…

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Well, the first thing you might ask in the aftermath of Spurs’ Transfer Deadline Day no-show, is whether the Research and Development team down at Hotspur Way have discovered some kind of invulnerability serum for Harry Kane.

That could be one explanation for their reluctance to enlist some backup for the in-form England striker, in this his second season as a first team regular.

If things go as swimmingly as we all hope, Tottenham could still have almost thirty fixtures penned into their diary between now and May. Thirty. That strikes as an inordinate amount of faith to be placing on one young man’s shoulders. An entire strategy apparently based on endurance training and the principle of crossing ones fingers and praying he doesn’t break.

In fairness, he doesn’t appear overwhelmed by the pressure of spearheading a *cough* title challenge single-handedly and if he’s feeling the onset of fatigue his words paint a different story:

“Physically we are 100 per cent, he told the Express yesterday. “We can run all game and that is the way we want to play.”

“If you work hard and out the effort in like we do every week, we are confident that we can beat every team. It is self-belief – not arrogance.”

Kane starred in Spurs’ mighty impressive dismantling of Norwich on Tuesday night, contributing two goals and a whole ‘o’ bunch of running for the cause. As the game tootled along, however, it was hard to stifle that troubling sense of unease, whenever he collapsed onto the turf or charged full-blooded into a sprint.

Woah there, Harry! Save some for the weekend, eh?

Whilst loathed to criticize Pochettino, who’s fashioning minor miracles from this young squad, you do have to question the ambitions of a chairman who appears more interested in the perfect symmetry of his balance book (it’s a net spend of precisely zero for 2015/16, if you’re wondering) than a genuine offensive on some silverware.

Perhaps, like our neighbours over in Holloway, this is the price we have to pay for wanting a state-of-the-art mega stadium; access to the inner sanctum of the Premier League elite comes at a cost. Years of stringent spending while the thing raises out of the ground and embosses itself on the North London skyline. They’ll be more stale transfer windows like this one, you imagine.

It’s perhaps not fair to say there were no attempts to strengthen the squad. Whispers circulated of some action on the Window’s final day. We mentioned Moussa Dembélé’s potential move from Fulham in the last instalment, a deal which died an undignified death when the two clubs couldn’t decide where the French striker would see out the season.

Fulham decided their survival in the Championship very much depended on Dembélé, so were unwilling to let him go until the summer. And there negotiations spluttered to a standstill.

Saido Berahino was again mentioned in passing, but it never advanced beyond speculation. Tony Pulis doesn’t come across as a man who appreciates certain aspects of modern football. Twitter rants, agent power and the like. As a man of principle, you imagine he’d rather keep him at The Hawthorns under duress, than let his behaviour be rewarded with a big money move. Whatever the price.

So what are we left with, then? Well the argument might be that we have ample cover in those advanced positions. Not in a traditional sense, but varying brands of replacements could be made available if Kane were to succumb to injury or burnout. Heung-min Son, Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela and Clinton N’jie, who’re involved in regular football training drills, have all played as forwards in one shape or another during their short careers. Nacer Chadli actually has all the attributes to be an effective target man. Pace, strength, a dead-eyed finisher when called upon.

In fact, I don’t know what you’re all panicking about. We’ve got too many options, if anything.

Right, guys?