Spurs News & Rumour Mill

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Fiorentina keen on Spurs winger Lennon

Fiorentina are considering a move for Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon.

La Nazione says Fiorentina sports director Pantaleo Corvino has sounded out his trusted contacts in London about the England international.

The stumbling block for Fiorentina is Lennon's asking price, with Spurs unlikely to consider selling for anything less than £17 million.

He's priced off the market.No one will meet that asking price.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Roma are eyeing Tottenham fullback Pascal Chimbonda. They will move for the France international should they fail to price Cicinho away from Real Madrid.

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Lennon is untouchable IMO. He is so important to our present and future. Chimbonda has his critics because he loses his cool too often, but to me he is a fantastic player and I think he's one of the only guys in the team with some real guts and aggression so I would hate to see him go.

[bandini]

Sevilla coach Juande Ramos has played down reports of a meeting with Tottenham Hotspur officials.

Spurs insist they are not in negotiations for any manager to replace Martin Jol as boss, and the meeting has been explained on both sides as a private matter unrelated to potential changes at the club.

Ramos believes it may have been designed to unsettle Sevilla ahead of their Spanish Super Cup clash against Real Madrid last night.

'When we play an important game like this, news of this kind always comes out,' he said.

'I was in the hotel because a friend came who had nothing to do with football.'

Spurs crushed Derby 4-0 on Saturday to record their first win of the season but there were still concerns over Jol's future at White Hart Lane following reports in Spain of Ramos' meeting.

Prior to the victory, one bookmakers had suspended betting on Jol's departure.

'I would not have made a big bet on my situation,' said the Dutchman.

The League Managers' Association have expressed their concern at a boss being under pressure so early in the season.

Frank Clark, vice-chairman of the LMA, said: 'It strikes us as ridiculous. It's no way to run a business when you spend an awful lot of money and prepare a team for the season and there's talk about change after three league games.

'Television are obsessed with league tables after two or three games and that strikes me as utter rubbish. It doesn't help the situation at all.'

Jol has the backing of his players as well, with Steed Malbranque running to the dug-out after scoring the opener against Derby.

'We all followed him,' said Jermaine Jenas, who added a third after Malbranque had scored a second.

'We wanted to get everyone together, not just the manager, the coaching staff as well.

'People talk and create pressure, but we're a team and we stick together and that includes the manager and everyone at the club.'

The other good news for Jol is skipper Ledley King possibly returning ahead of his scheduled comeback at the end of next month, and Dimitar Berbatov's groin complaint being described as 'short term'.

In the meantime, Jol is focusing on next weekend's clash against Manchester United.

'We need the points,' he said. 'Hopefully as a manager you want time to build a team and we've got a fairly good chance.

'And nobody before me, in the last 20, 25 years did the same as me with so many points.'

source: soccernet.com

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Ramos would have been a huge capture for Spurs. Martin Jol wanted to sell Berbatov all because of a personal thing those two behind. That could be his destiny. I doubt he will stay at Spurs for a long time now.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Spurs linked with Bolton's Diouf

Tottenham are being linked with unsettled Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf.

Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic and Lyons have expressed an interest, but are unwilling to match Bolton's valuation of £10 million, says The Times.

"There are five clubs who want me but I don't want to go just for the sake of going," Diouf said. "If I go, I will go to a big club. I want to play in the Champions League or Uefa Cup, but I want to stay in England. I'm happy to play for Bolton, but I'm not happy with the results."

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Benfica teenager Fabio Coentrao is interesting Tottenham. The Daily Star Sunday says Spurs boss Martin Jol is keeping tabs on winger Coentrao, who only joined Benfica at the end of last season from Rio Ave.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Motherwell are moving for Tottenham striker Lee Barnard.

"I have been talking to Spurs about their young striker, Lee Barnard, with a view to bringing him here on loan," Well boss Mark McGhee told his club website.

[bandini]

Berbatov ends move speculation

Dimitar Berbatov has ended the speculation surrounding his future as a Tottenham player by confirming he will stay at the club.
FOOTBALL 2006-2007 Premiership Tottenham Dimitar Berbatov - 0
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Berbatov's agent last week declared Manchester United had enquired about the possibility of the Bulgaria striker moving to Old Trafford, only for United to later deny the claim.

And now the 26-year-old has pledged his immediate future to the north London club, although he did not rule out the possibility of a move elsewhere later in his career.

"I chose to join Tottenham last season, now I'm staying at the club through my own free will. At least for now," Berbatov told Bulgarian Football Weekly.

"No one said that United didn't have interest in me and my price in general but it has to be clear that there will not be a move for now."

Berbatov has been a revelation since moving to White Hart Lane from Bayer Leverkusen last season, prompting Spurs boss Martin Jol - who has endured a tough period of late - to say he "would rather die than sell Berbatov".

Berbatov added: "There has been a lot of speculation but all I can say now is that this saga has strengthened [Tottenham manager Martin] Jol's position and that the club's board decided to raise my salary."

Spurs fell to defeat against United on Sunday, leaving them with just three points from four games since the start of the new campaign.

source: Premier League - Berbatov ends move speculation - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

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I have to say I wouldn't be very reassured by Berbatov's words:

"I'm staying at the club through my own free will. At least for now .... all I can say now is that ... the club's board decided to raise my salary

He is basically admitting there was a problem, it has been resolved partly by Berbatov getting a pay rise. Talk about commitment!

[bandini]

it is a little disconcerting, but he stayed put when he could have gone to any number of clubs before so he has shown some loyalty. He is yet to get on the scoresheet so far this season so he better bang in some goals soon so we can forget about all this.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Jermaine Jenas has signed a new five-year contract to stay at Tottenham Hotspur.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Crewe Alexandra have completed the loan signing of Tottenham Hotspur striker Lee Barnard

[bandini]

Lennon, Dawson, Kaboul and Bent are coming back.

Tottenham boss Martin Jol will welcome a key quartet of player back into his squad for Saturday's trip to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.England winger Aaron Lennon is expected to play some part in the Premier League clash, while Michael Dawson (ankle), Younes Kaboul (hamstring) and Darren Bent (thigh) are all back in contention.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) will start training next week but Ledley King (knee) remains sidelined.

source: Key quartet back to boost Spurs - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

Finally, we're getting back to normal...

[bandini]

Spurs dismiss latest Jol talk

Tottenham have again dismissed media reports that manager Martin Jol is on his way out of White Hart Lane, insisting that there are no plans to replace the Dutchman.

Spurs slumped to their fourth defeat of the new season in the north London derby on Saturday to further feed the frenetic speculation Jol will soon be sacked and replaced by Sevilla boss Juande Ramos.

The 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal left Spurs fourth bottom in the Premier League with just four points from six games.

And Monday evening newspaper reports claimed Ramos - who had said he received a 'dizzying' offer from Spurs last month, only to eventually stay with the UEFA Cup champions - will meet again with representatives from White Hart Lane in the next fortnight.

But, publicly at least, Spurs continue to back Jol, even though they were expecting a better start to the season.

A spokesperson for the club said: "Martin's our manager and there are no plans to meet anyone else.

"It is inaccurate to speculate game-by-game. Martin has not had the start he would have wished but he wants to turn things around."

Despite the increased speculation, Jol's job appears safe until the end of the season, with Ramos now insisting he has no intention of leaving Sevilla until next summer.