Cartilage Free Captain

With the January transfer window now in the rear view mirror, attention turns now from what can clubs do in the market to how they DID do in the market. Tottenham Hotspur brought in three players in this window: goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, central defender Kevin Danso, and attacker Mathys Tel, with the latter two on loan.

Fan reaction to Spurs’ window has been mixed — while most fans think the players brought in constitute a decent window that addresses Tottenham’s needs for the second half of the season, there’s a lot of consternation about the timing of the moves and why Spurs waited until the end of the window to bring in players that would have been very useful playing matches earlier in January.

Tottenham’s sporting director Johan Lange “moves in darkness” as we like to say — since assuming his role he has maintained strict radio silence and has pretty much locked down most leaks coming out of the club. So it’s very interesting now to see a video interview on Tottenham’s YouTube channel with Lange where he talks about the overall window, the challenges the club faces when addressing significant moves in January, and why Spurs waited so gosh-darn long to make moves.

It’s a very interesting video, and I’ve embedded it in the article header so you can watch it in full. Here are a few choice excerpts.

First, Lange was asked about the overall dynamics of the January window and why it’s often a challenge for clubs to make significant decisions in the middle of the season. Lange was also asked to reflect a bit on each of Spurs’ three signings.

“The January transfer window is always a difficult window. Normally it’s about 10% of transfers are started in the January window compared to the summer. We came into the window with an ambition of trying to strengthen us in certain areas. We sit here after the window having signed a new goalkeeper, a new centerback, and an offensive player as well. So that is where we are and overall we are very satisfied with that.

“Toni (Kinsky) is a goalkeeper that we have followed for a long time. He was a target that we were considering for the summer, but due to Vicario’s injury we decided to see if we could move it forward. He’s a goalkeeper that despite his young age is quite proven — he has been in goal in the Czech division for the last few years. He’s a very modern goalkeeper, and a player that suits our style of play. We followed him a lot, I think we watched him 10-12 times live during the summer and I have very detailed knowledge of him as a character. We’re very excited that he is at the club and of course will come in and compete.

“[With Danso] stylistic fit is always important. With the way we play we need players that will come and be comfortable in that style. With Kevin, he’s a very good stylistic fit but he also comes with a lot experience, both in the Bundesliga and also Ligue 1 in France and also with the Austrian national team. He’s a good age, with the experience to come in and take a role from the first day. We’re getting to know him more and more and I’m sure his personalty will play a huge factor in his role going forward.

“Mathys [Tel] is a fantastic talent. He’s one of a unique group of players that at a young age has already played a lot of football at a very high level — he’s played over 60 games in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and has played 15-16 games in the Champions League for Bayern Munich at the age of 19. He’s a versatile attacking player who has the ‘X-factor’ and hopefully will bring excitement to the stadium as well. He’s a player that all of us can’t wait to ‘set free’ and hopefully we will share some fantastic experiences together in the future.”

To the club’s credit, Lange was asked about why so many January transfers don’t happen until the end of the window. Lange responded that there were some changes to the January dynamic that made moves even more difficult than in past years, particularly the change to the European competition structure that meant the first round didn’t end until after the window closed.

“That is a fair question. We as a club would’ve liked to do all our signings on January 1, and we were ready to do that, but it’s not as easy as that. I think in this January in particular the dynamic changed a little bit. We’re not the only team that has injuries, and also the dynamic of the new European [tournament] format. Meaning that all the teams competing in the European season have had to play group matches in January, which has [until now] never been the case. Normally the clubs will know their fate in December. But the fact is that teams are playing two group games in late January, and more teams that are playing in the playoff stages. And those things meant that clubs are more reluctant [to sell players]. So it’s about finding the right players here to come into the team. It’s not about buying the first players available, it’s about finding players for now and also for the future.

“In the first two weeks of January I think there were about 12 transfers in the whole of the Premier League, and that says a lot. You can of course influence things but you can’t completely dictate the whole transfer window dynamics. Some players are also uncomfortable making a change mid-season, because they want to ride the season out, or join a new club with a full preseason. We are asking players and families to make a move — within 24 yours you’re leaving your country, you’re starting, you’re playing the next day. There are a lot of factors [as to why] most transactions are done in the summer. We were ready to go on January 1, and I think sitting here we spent the whole window trying to get business done. We brought three players in that we are certain will contribute to the club.”

Lange was also asked about the recruitment structure at Spurs, something he and Scott Munn have been working on revamping over the past year or so. Spurs have retooled their recruitment towards a more data-driven analytical approach, and have made significant changes to the scouting and recruitment staff. Lange said all of this was to further a very important goal.

“We are building here a very strong and robust evidence-based infrastructure. So for instance we arrived with [Kinsky] at the beginning of the market, and when we presented [the data to Ange] and the same with Mathys as well, I think they were very impressed with the detailed knowledge we have of them and what they have done in their career so far, how we anticipate that they will perform in our style and system, how much we know about their character, etc. And then of course, Ange [Postecoglou], myself, the scouting department, we have meetings, and every transfer we have done since I have arrived at the club, Ange has a conversation with the player as well. So we are building here, and this is a key component to be successful in the future as well, a very strong infrastructure in the club as well because the leagues we are in are very competitive.”

Lange also talks about the loan system, and Tottenham’s new preference to send promising young players like Yang Min-hyeok and Will Lankshear out to other clubs to get experience, and how that can pay dividends in the future.

It’s a really interesting interview. Lange sure sounds like he knows what he’s doing, and listening to him talk makes the social media chatter about Spurs purposefully leaving business late and him as an incompetent recruiter more and more ridiculous. If anything, the main takeaway from Lange’s interview is that fans need to (and apologies for this) “trust the process.”

I’ve featured a couple Queen Tracks of the Day in the last few weeks. I see no reason to stop now.

So why not feature a Queen track every Wednesday this month, right? I’ve been pretty into their deep cuts lately. I’ve also always loved their first few albums (1 through News of the World). The glam rock-era Queen was and will always be the best Queen.

With that in mind, let’s go all the way back to Queen’s self-titled album, which the band recently re-released in a remastered edition.

When I think of early Queen, I think of My Fairy King.

I love the glamour, baroque-pop and at times hard-rock style this song takes layered with the overdubs that made Queen famous.

I’m not quite sure what the origins of this song are, but its lyrics are rich in some made-up modern-day mythology rich with imagery.

But someone who spent a lot more time studying Queen’s lyrics than I have found that Freddie Mercury wrote a handful of songs alluding to this place called “Rhye” (for example, Seven Seas of Rhye, which appeared on this album). Other songs to mention this land include Lily of the Valley, In The Lap of The Gods, Ogre Battle and The March of the Black Queen.

The song references the fairy king, a lion’s den, fallow deer, rivers “made from wine so clear”, dragons and the figure Samson.

Much of these motifs, this writer finds, appear throughout a handful of song from Queen’s early catalogue that contain a rich tapestry of characters and geography in this mythological kingdom of Rhye.

It’s not something I’ve noticed going through Queen’s earlier work before. All I had noticed was that there were a few of these more colourful songs in Queen’s first three records (I always thought they were the most interesting). I’m excited to go back through them.

Fitzie’s track of the day: My Fairy King, by Queen

And now for your links:

Dan KP: “Mathys Tel is a major coup but Tottenham might have missed another golden opportunity”

Football London: “What Tottenham January business means for Cardoso, Guehi, Tel and the summer transfer plans”

BBC: “National League clubs demand three promotion spots”

The transfer window is now closed, and so it’s time to take stock of not only what has been done but also what it means. Tottenham Hotspur are in something of a bind at the moment with regards to their Europa League squad registration status.

Matty wrote a super helpful explainer at the beginning of the season outlining Tottenham’s Europa League squad composition and the choices they made in squad construction. I would suggest re-reading that article first for context on Spurs’ choices going forward. For the opening round, the biggest decision Ange Postecoglou made was to omit Djed Spence for Fraser Forster, giving Tottenham four goalkeepers in the squad. Part of that decision was dictated by the forced inclusion of the only two club-trained players at Spurs right now — keepers Alfie Whiteman and Brandon Austin. With Guglielmo Vicario the established No. 1, Postecoglou opted to omit Spence from the squad in favor of a backup keeper in Forster, as he pretty clearly didn’t trust Austin or Whiteman to back up Vicario at the time should he get injured.

The decision to omit Spence caused a lot of consternation among fans at the time. Now, Spurs face a different kind of dilemma. If Spurs decide to include Spence, Spurs have four new players that they could integrate into the Europa League squad before the next round: Spence, Antonin Kinsky, Kevin Danso, and Mathys Tel.

The problem — Spurs can only make three changes to their squad, meaning someone’s getting left out of Europa for the rest of the season. That means Spurs have a choice to make: who do they bring in, and who then do they leave out?

Thankfully (kinda), Spurs’ injury-depleted squad makes for a couple of obvious choices. Here are some of the options Spurs have in their Europa League roster construction.

In: Kevin Danso / Out: Radu Dragusin

This one is the most obvious. With Dragusin undergoing surgery for a blown ACL and missing the rest of the season, it’s an easy like-for-like swap to bring Danso in his place. Danso is likely to play almost immediately, as both Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven will need their time managed pretty extensively, especially when they first return to the squad. I can’t imagine Spurs don’t make this move, as not registering Danso means they’d go the rest of their Europa League run with just three recognized CBs (not including Archie Gray).

In: Djed Spence / Out: Fraser Forster

It’s pretty notable how fast Forster’s star has fallen since Tottenham signed Antonin Kinsky on January 1. He went from Guglielmo Vicario’s #2 and starting in all available competitions to not even making the bench in Premier League games. Brandon Austin seems to have eclipsed Forster as Spurs’ third choice option, and while he’s Association Trained, including Spence means Spurs are still at the four-player limit in that category. Forster’s contract also expires at the end of the year and he’s likely to depart the club then. So if Spurs really want to bring Spence into the Europa League squad, Forster is the most logical player to make way.

In: Mathys Tel / Out: Timo Werner OR Wilson Odobert

Tel could make a real impact in the Europa League, but he’d have to replace someone currently in the team that is NOT club- or association-trained. He’s 19, but because he just joined the club he can’t be on List B, so he must take the place of someone on List A. Both Werner and Odobert are currently injured and play in what is ostensibly Tel’s position. Depending on whether you believe Ange or not, Odobert could be rejoining Tottenham’s first team training in the next couple of weeks; we haven’t gotten an update on Werner for a while. Werner is a seasoned professional athlete, but he’s also here on loan and hasn’t necessarily at his best. If Spurs opt to bring in Tel, I would say it’s probably one of these two players that makes way, depending on injury status and who Ange things would make the most impact when healthy.

Out: Antonin Kinsky

This is harsh on Kinsky Boots, but the reality is that Spurs can only make three changes to the squad list, Guglielmo Vicario will be back shortly, and Spurs have two other keepers on the Europa squad that are both club-trained. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to replace Forster with Kinsky with Vicario coming back and Austin being at least cromulent in the role. It’s a bummer for Antonio, but he should instead get plenty of league minutes if Ange decides to play Vicario or Austin in the knock-outs.

Now, there’s one scenario where Kinsky could be registered, and that’s if Vicario’s injury is such that it doesn’t make sense to include him in the squad. If that’s the case, Kinsky is the natural choice to replace Vicario, and Spurs would need to leave out one player, likely either Spence or Tel (but maybe Danso if Spurs think they can skate by with Davies and Gray and are bullish on the health of Romero and Van de Ven). The other option is to have Austin in goal as first choice keeper, and replace Vicario with Tel or Spence.

There are other possibilities, of course. Spurs could opt, for example, to deregister a player like Destiny Udogie if they feel he’ll be out for an extended period of time. Dane Scarlett, now that he’s back with the club, can join List B, with William Lankshear on loan. Spurs could, of course, decide NOT to register one of Spence, Tel or Danso in favor of Kinsky while keeping Vicario, but it would be strange to do so, especially Spence who is considered Association Trained. Doing so would also mean Spurs again have four keepers on their roster, which would be kinda bonkers.

It’ll be interesting to see what Spurs WILL do, but I feel like the above scenario (Danso/Spence/Tel for Dragusin/Forster/Odobert or Werner) is the most likely. We’ll find out in a couple days — the deadline for submitting changes to UEFA is Thurs. February 6.

It appears Tottenham Hotspur isn’t yet done in the transfer market, at least with regards to refilling the academy. On the heels of signing a triumverate of 18-year-olds for the U21s, Tom Barclay of the S-n is reporting that Spurs are close to agreeing a £1.6m deal to purchase 17-year-old Irish striker Mason Melia from St. Patrick’s Athletic.

This is not the first time Tottenham have signed a highly rated youngster before they turn 18. Spurs notably have done that with Luka Vuskovic, who is currently on loan with Westerlo in Belgium, and it was the same (I believe) with Lucas Bergvall.

Nor is it the first time that Spurs have headed to the Emerald Isle in search of youth talent. Troy Parrott notably was an Irish export, and while he hasn’t (yet) lived up to his sobriquet as “the next Robbie Keane” Troy did okay and is now banging them in at AZ Alkmaar.

Melia has been a part of Ireland’s international youth setup since the U15 level and notably was a member of the Ireland U17 squad that made the quarterfinals of the U17 EUROs. In two seasons at St. Patrick’s he’s made 41 appearances at senior level, netting 8 goals.

This is exactly the kind of singing I hope Spurs keep making — young, prolific international talent that might — might — make the leap into a solid top level professional footballer. It’s absolutely worth spending £1.6m every now and then on guys like this.

Mathys Tel wasn’t the only Tottenham Hotspur player to sign on deadline day. As reported yesterday, Tottenham were also in the market for young players with whom they can restock their academy ranks. And they have done so, announcing the signing of three 18-year-olds — Dan Batty from Manchester City U21, Luca Furnell-Gill from Liverpool U21, and Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny from Chelsea U21.

Batty is an attacking midfielder that featured for City’s FA Youth Cup squad last season.

Furnell-Gill is a central defender who came through the Preston North End academy before signing with Liverpool two seasons ago.

Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny is a central midfielder with Chelsea’s academy, and a member of the England U17, U18, and U29 setups. He also has parents who apparently love hyphens and compound names.

I’d love to tell you more about all three, but I can’t. What I can say is that they were brought in as talented youngsters to bolster a Spurs U21 squad that has struggled since losing several key players from the team that won the PL2 last season. Are they any good? No idea! But I would imagine they’re plenty good enough that we can probably flip them to a team down the pyramid for a small profit. And in the meantime they can learn and develop at one of the top training facilities in the UK.

And you never know — one of these kids could turn out and break through into the first team. Who knows! That’s why you invest in young talent.

Welcome to Tottenham, fellas!

Everyone’s thinking it so I’m going to say it: This is a big week for the St John’s men’s basketball programme.

The Johnnies are having their best season in years, guided by Rick Pitino, who guided multiple teams to the NCAA Championship (and then encountered a fair amount of scandals). It’s also the same Rick Pitino who excoriated his players last year, dolling out some harsh words to college students in a public atmosphere.

But now, St John’s are ranked 12th in the nation. They are 19-3 overall and 10-1 in the Big East, sitting alone at the top of the conference.

But are they as good as their ranking suggests? Yes, they’re 14-0 at home and have won the last eight games in a row, but lost the only game they played against a Top 25 opponent (a 99-98 nail-biter to Baylor).

That’s what makes this week so important. They play not just one Top 25 team, but two.

First at home against Marquette (11) on Tuesday, and then agaisnt UConn (19) in Storrs, Connecticut, on Friday night. One win against either of those teams (ideally Marquette), and the Johnnies secure their position as a tournament contender. Lose both, and it’s back to reality.

It also begins the business end of conference play. They’ll still have to play Marquette and UConn again, plus another game against Creighton.

So it’s a big week. And it begins tonight.

Fitzie’s track of the day: This Must Be The Place, by Sure Sure

And now for your links:

BBC: “‘An unbelievably sought-after player’ - who is Spurs signing Tel?”

The Athletic ($$): “Is Djed Spence making himself undroppable at Tottenham?”

Dan KP: “Heung-min Son issues rallying call as Spurs get confidence boost ahead of decisive 10 days”

Alasdair Gold: “Ange Postecoglou’s key Mathys Tel chat and the crucial Tottenham change made behind the scenes”

It’s over! Another January tranfer window has come and gone, and Tottenham Hotspur actually made some moves.

Sure, they left it super late for most of them, but the end result is, I think, pretty positive with a new central defender, a new forward, and a new keeper all coming in, plus some kiddos for the academy Not too bad!

Here’s a summary of Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer business for both the Men’s and Women’s teams.

Men’s team

IN

Antonin Kinksy (GK) — Slavia Prague [£13m]

Kevin Danso (CB) — Lens [€25m]

Mathys Tel (FW) — Bayern Munich [loan with option to buy at €55m]

Daniel Batty (MF) — Manchester City U21 [undisclosed]

Luca Furnell-Gill (CB) — Liverpool U21 [undisclosed]

Beyoncé (Queen) — [four concert deal]

OUT

Matthew Craig (MF) — Mansfield Town (loan)

Will Lankshear (FW) — West Bromwich Albion (loan)

Spurs Women

IN

Olivia Holdt (MF) — Rosengård [undisclosed]

Lize Kop (GK) — Leicester City [undisclosed]

Josefine Rybrink (DEF) — BF Häcken [undisclosed]

OUT

While we wait for the signings of Mathys Tel to finalize, we have some news that the last hour of Spurs’ window could be rather quiet. Nizaar Kinsella of the BBC is now writing that Spurs are expected to finalize the Tel loan, which will include a purchase option of some kind, but are not expected to add any more players after that.

So that would make Spurs’ January window a triumverate of incoming players: Antonin Kinsky, Kevin Danso, and Mathys Tel (assuming it goes through). You’ll certainly be able to have your say on what you think about that window heading into a League Cup semifinal match against Liverpool and a bunch of upcoming Premier League matches. But there will be a time and place for that. For now, let’s just wait for the Mathys Tel deal to be completed and then we can look at the big picture stuff.

Spurs did try and bring in another central defender with Radu Dragusin out for the rest of the season, but weren’t able to get one across the line. So let’s hope Danso the rest of the crew stay healthy (-ier) this spring than they did this winter.

A couple more late signings for Tottenham Hotspur, but these are for the academy. According to the Evening Standard’s transfer tracker, Spurs are set to sign and announce two young players to increase the academy numbers — 18-year old Manchester City midfielder Daniel Batty, and Liverpool central defender Luca Furnell-Gill.

Can’t really tell you anything about them, to be honest, but I can say that because Ange Postecoglu has needed to rely on more and more academy players and graduates to make up the bulk of training lately, the academy has taken a real hit. Winners of the PL2 last season, this season Spurs’ U21s are all the way down in 21st. That’s what happens when Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore get promoted to the first team.

So this is good, though I have no idea how good either Batty or Furnell-Gill are. I would imagine they’ve got some good qualities or the academy wouldn’t really be looking at them, and with matches streamed on SpursPLAY there will be opportunities to see what they can do.

We’ll update this article if either signing gets confirmed.

Another brief update. Scrolling through the Standard’s transfer tracker, I found this bit of info that’s kind of about Tottenham Hotspur, but not really. But hey, it’s deadline day so our threshold for bullshit gets dialed down a bit.

According to the Standard’s transfer tracker, Noah Okafor — a young Swiss winger and erstwhile Tottenham Hotspur target — is heading from AC Milan to Napoli, and NOT to the Premier League.

I wasn’t especially high on Okafor as a target — while I haven’t watched a ton of him (mostly highlights) his skills and stats suggest a player that’s more Diet Brennan Johnson than the coveted right sided dribbly boi for which we’ve been pining. So honestly, I’m inclined to think Okafor was a name on a list and not a serious option for Spurs.

Okafor is heading to play under Antonio Conte and maybe it’s just me but he does NOT seem like a Conte-style player. Keep an eye on the Serie A media over the next day or so and brush up how to say “club signing” in Italian.

We wrote previously that Spurs had cooled their interest in Okafor, and whether that’s because Napoli beat us to him or we just thought we could do better is an open question. Either way, he’s off the list Thank u, next!