Black Beauty and Tottenham Hotspur…

What’s the difference? Of course there are the obvious ones, which we won’t go into here for the sake of brevity. However, the answer I would give is this; one is a dark horse, one is a possible dark horse.

You can possibly attribute this hunch to the unexpected baking my brain has received due to the surface-of-the-sun-with-intermittent-showers weather we have experienced this week. However, I can’t shake the sneaking feeling that Spurs have a serious chance of challenging the so-called “Big Four” this coming season. Bear with me for a while whilst I try to rationalise this.

For one, they actually have a good manager, and by good I mean one that buys the right players, not just any good players, and is used to working with this level team. By this I mean that Sevilla, his previous club, were very much of the same size and budget as Tottenham, and he took them close to breaking the La Liga hegemony shared by Barcelona, Valencia and Real Madrid. He is also an astute tactician and motivator and seems to have settled well into English football.

By extension, I feel you have to applaud his summer transfer dealings. Giovanni dos Santos is a fantastic prospect from Barcelona, and his signing is a real coup. The expected signing of David Bentley is also a great buy, as he has an extremely cultured right foot and as well as being of a good international standard now he will undoubtedly improve in the future.

I am also a big fan of the tricky Luka Modric, who has a sublime touch and whose vision is second-to-none. As a string-pulling modern midfield player he is among the very best. Though there may be certain concerns about his twig-like physique, he has never faded on the international stage and I can’t imagine players in the Croatian leagues have exactly handed him flowers and laid down when he’s played them. With the mooted chase of the mercurial, though excellent, Arshavin as well as the deadly Diego Milito, it shows that Ramos is seemingly taking the club in the right direction, with players of the correct calibre in his sights.

As important are the players he has got rid of. Paul Robinson has not been on form for a year or so, and the former England no.1 has found himself shipped out to be replaced by Gomes, a more than adequate replacement. Furthermore, getting over £20m for Robbie Keane is, in my eyes, a masterstroke, as he is not worth that amount and is quite close to his 30s. Ramos has also cut the dead wood from the squad, primarily with the bulk-selling to Sunderland. One thing on which to comment is that Wolves must be tutting once more for not putting sell-on clauses on his first move, as with Keane’s peripatetic nature they would have earned themselves a small fortune.

All in all, with a steady manager at the helm and if the new players gel, this Tottenham team could be one to get excited about. Keeping Ledley King fit will be crucial, and ensuring their strike force is adequately repaired if Berbatov leaves is also vitally important. It is usually this time of year that Liverpool fans begin their crowing about it being their year. This year, I believe Tottenham fans too can have a certain amount of confidence heading in to the new season.