Sissoko to Spurs (CONFIRMED)

[Hjl]

That's ****! I have a picture of Joe Kinnear on the living room wall.

I have an oil painting of Souness that i look at whilst i drink out a pint glass that says "Fat Sam" which sits on a coaster that has Steve McClaren's face on it.

I have a very realistic tattoo on my face of Dummet standing bare chested holding his third champions league winners medal with Colback in the background accepting his ballon d or award. It's classy. I got it when Carver took over in anticipation of things to come.

[bodacious benny]

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[Holystone...]

You can see why we nicked him for £2m , but that resale price is just jaw dropping crazy . Long may they regret that impulsive need to sp*nk that much on him. Half an hour on TF would have put them wise to things .

[Hjl]

Hehehehehe

[tw1995]

Quite a few of my Spurs mates are desperate to be rid of that Donkey now too. How can he turn up in the Euros then just switch off again? Bizarre

[beatski]

You can see why we nicked him for £2m , but that resale price is just jaw dropping crazy . Long may they regret that impulsive need to sp*nk that much on him. Half an hour on TF would have put them wise to things .

I don't think it was impulsive, i think they needed a player in that position and Levy was trying to be a clever bugger waiting until the last minute to lowball us. Then Everton bid £30 mil and screwed up their plans, leaving them no time to get an alternative so they had to match the price and or do without.

[Remember Colo]

You can see why we nicked him for £2m , but that resale price is just jaw dropping crazy . Long may they regret that impulsive need to sp*nk that much on him. Half an hour on TF would have put them wise to things .

I don't think it was impulsive, i think they needed a player in that position and Levy was trying to be a clever bugger waiting until the last minute to lowball us. Then Everton bid £30 mil and screwed up their plans, leaving them no time to get an alternative so they had to match the price and or do without.

That's a good hypothesis!

[On Tyne]

You can see why we nicked him for £2m , but that resale price is just jaw dropping crazy . Long may they regret that impulsive need to sp*nk that much on him. Half an hour on TF would have put them wise to things .

I don't think it was impulsive, i think they needed a player in that position and Levy was trying to be a clever bugger waiting until the last minute to lowball us. Then Everton bid £30 mil and screwed up their plans, leaving them no time to get an alternative so they had to match the price and or do without.

True but we would never have got 30 million if Rafa hadn´t been our manager. The fact that Rafa was there made it believable that Sissoko could stay at Newcastle this season. If Carver or Pardew had been at the club then we would´ve sold him for about 10, I reckon.

[Aldridge Prior]

I don't think it was impulsive, i think they needed a player in that position and Levy was trying to be a clever bugger waiting until the last minute to lowball us. Then Everton bid £30 mil and screwed up their plans, leaving them no time to get an alternative so they had to match the price and or do without.

True but we would never have got 30 million if Rafa hadn´t been our manager. The fact that Rafa was there made it believable that Sissoko could stay at Newcastle this season. If Carver or Pardew had been at the club then we would´ve sold him for about 10, I reckon.

Got to disagree there mate, I honestly think the outcome would've been the same under Pardew/Carver/McClaren. I doubt Benitez had anything to do with it.

[beatski]

I don't think it was impulsive, i think they needed a player in that position and Levy was trying to be a clever bugger waiting until the last minute to lowball us. Then Everton bid £30 mil and screwed up their plans, leaving them no time to get an alternative so they had to match the price and or do without.

True but we would never have got 30 million if Rafa hadn´t been our manager. The fact that Rafa was there made it believable that Sissoko could stay at Newcastle this season. If Carver or Pardew had been at the club then we would´ve sold him for about 10, I reckon.

It really didn't have anything to do with Rafa, nor did it make it believeable that Sissoko would stay, he was making noises about leaving regardless, and it was clear he wasn't going to play again for us if he could help it. it only ever had anything to do with what was offered and what we'd be willing to sell for.

Don't see why people are so desperate to attribute anything decent about the club as being all rafas doing, and anything bad as everyone else. Rafas done plenty good as it is, you don't have to make stuff up. and credit where credit is due to the others, we wouldn't be progressing as we are if everyone wasn't working together and doing their bit. It's not like Rafa is actually just running the club single handed. Pretending like Carr and Charnley and the like are Sat on their hands doing nothing or trying to stop him and Rafa is running the club well despite this is just stupid. (For a start, fact is Rafa couldn't do a f***ing thing if Charnley didn't let him)

[Toondes]

True but we would never have got 30 million if Rafa hadn´t been our manager. The fact that Rafa was there made it believable that Sissoko could stay at Newcastle this season. If Carver or Pardew had been at the club then we would´ve sold him for about 10, I reckon.

It really didn't have anything to do with Rafa, nor did it make it believeable that Sissoko would stay, he was making noises about leaving regardless, and it was clear he wasn't going to play again for us if he could help it. it only ever had anything to do with what was offered and what we'd be willing to sell for.

Don't see why people are so desperate to attribute anything decent about the club as being all rafas doing, and anything bad as everyone else. Rafas done plenty good as it is, you don't have to make stuff up. and credit where credit is due to the others, we wouldn't be progressing as we are if everyone wasn't working together and doing their bit. It's not like Rafa is actually just running the club single handed. Pretending like Carr and Charnley and the like are Sat on their hands doing nothing or trying to stop him and Rafa is running the club well despite this is just stupid. (For a start, fact is Rafa couldn't do a f***ing thing if Charnley didn't let him)

This. I like Rafa but he's not running the entire club on his own.

[Colly]

I don't think he's implying that Rafa was involved with negotiations, simply that having Rafa at the club made us a far more positive place to be than if he hadn't. The outlay involved in signing Rafa up for the Championship showed we weren't desperate for cash and willing to take any fee offered as we did last time. I don't think it's an outlandish suggestion.

[Holystone...]

I'm not convinced Rafa's aura contributed much to the transfer. From memory Sissoko has always had decent games for France , hence the thinking he'd prosper in a better side with potentially better coaching ( Carver and Pards hardly world beaters ) . Truth is other players at this level probably made him look better than he really is. His athleticism is not in doubt . His skills and stats are piss poor for £30m.

[beatski]

Disagree completely with Rafa having any prrcieved impact on our finances and our fee demanded. what does a positive environment or not matter? No effect whatsoever on Sissokos desire to leave

Sissoko made it quite clear that he wasn't going to play for the club again regardless, so we were clearly going to have to sell. I fail to see why which manager is at the helm affects that at all.

[On Tyne]

True but we would never have got 30 million if Rafa hadn´t been our manager. The fact that Rafa was there made it believable that Sissoko could stay at Newcastle this season. If Carver or Pardew had been at the club then we would´ve sold him for about 10, I reckon.

It really didn't have anything to do with Rafa, nor did it make it believeable that Sissoko would stay, he was making noises about leaving regardless, and it was clear he wasn't going to play again for us if he could help it. it only ever had anything to do with what was offered and what we'd be willing to sell for.

Don't see why people are so desperate to attribute anything decent about the club as being all rafas doing, and anything bad as everyone else. Rafas done plenty good as it is, you don't have to make stuff up. and credit where credit is due to the others, we wouldn't be progressing as we are if everyone wasn't working together and doing their bit. It's not like Rafa is actually just running the club single handed. Pretending like Carr and Charnley and the like are Sat on their hands doing nothing or trying to stop him and Rafa is running the club well despite this is just stupid. (For a start, fact is Rafa couldn't do a f***ing thing if Charnley didn't let him)

Well, why not compare our club to before Rafa came to after he came? Carr and Charnley (and Ashley) were there before and they still are. Our fortunes have changed 180 degrees since one change was made: the arrival of Rafa Benitez. Whether you want to give credited to Ashley or Charnley for bringing him in is another matter but he has made changes at the club from top to bottom - not just the squad but also facilities and moral. Therefore, I would attribute everything good that has happened at the club this season to Rafa.

Despite player power these days, sometimes they don´t get what they want (Cabaye going on strike springs to mind). Benitez said that if we didn´t get the right offer then Sissoko would be staying and he would be happy to have him in the squad this season. IMO these would´ve been hollow words coming from Pardew or Carver.

[Toondes]

Sissokos value rocketed because of a few good games at the euros not because Rafa was appointed manager.

[ALF]

Sissoko was always leaving and the value came from a good game in the Euros.

[Remember Colo]

I'd take it a step farther and say that value had been talked about for several seasons, admittedly heavily based on his performance for the French national team, but not just on the most recent Euro Cup. He's long benefited from himself, his agent and pundits talking him up, and then putting in a great performance here and there when the audience was big enough. For years we made fun of his undeserved grandstanding and big talk about the level he should be playing, but in the end, it probably did result in us making more money. Thankfully if idiots hear something enough, they can start to believe it - in this case, the idiots were Spurs decision makers.

[Over The Line]

I'd take it a step farther and say that value had been talked about for several seasons, admittedly heavily based on his performance for the French national team, but not just on the most recent Euro Cup. He's long benefited from himself, his agent and pundits talking him up, and then putting in a great performance here and there when the audience was big enough. For years we made fun of his undeserved grandstanding and big talk about the level he should be playing, but in the end, it probably did result in us making more money. Thankfully if idiots hear something enough, they can start to believe it - in this case, the idiots were Spurs decision makers.

It's baffling that professional top level football teams with an army of scouts and millions of pounds to spend can still be suckered in by media hype. Anybody watching 10+ Newcastle games last season would tell you Sissoko is worth 12 million at the most. His goals/stats over the last four years would of told you that alone. Considering we play 57 hours of league football a year, it doesn't seem unrealistic to get a scout to spend a couple of days watching back our games from the season to make a final decision to spend a ridiculous sum of money.

Unless they did that and still thought he was worth £30m. In that case they deserve everything.

[Hjl]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hehehehehehehehe