On Wednesday night Daniel Levy once more reitirated his stance on Luka Modric leaving Spurs. He’s not. He’s not going anywhere for any amount of money. Simple. All done and dusted then? No of course it isn’t, to believe that is the end of it would be to display an embarassing amount of naievety.
Daniel has of course, basically just said to Modric and any potential suitors that we want to keep him and if he wants out then he is going to have to fight his way out. It won’t be pretty and it would need to be accompanied by an unfeasibly large bag of cash. In making this statement again Levy has been lauded and praised to the heavens by Spurs fans everywhere. Yes, the same Levy who a couple of weeks ago was being derided by the same fans for chasing his Olympic dream. It’s okay though, Spurs fans aren’t fickle. Honest.
Not that Luka Modric would believe that. Our ‘irreplaceable little genius’ dubbed by many as ‘Moddle’ – you can’t get a much higher honour than that as a Spurs midfielder – has been turned upon by many. He’s been labelled, ‘scum’, a ‘traitor’ and that old favourite of the outraged, ‘judas’. Perhaps its not crossed their minds that what he might need is a reminder of how much he’s loved and appreciated at The Lane. Or perhaps they are actually more realistic than others in accepting that like most modern footballers, he doesn’t really care about the fans or what they think. I couldn’t turn on him but to those that have, as Voltaire didn’t say, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it’.
Supporting a team, any team, is an emotional thing so snap reactions are to be expected. It’s not as if Spurs fans are the only ones guilty, it’s a football thing, everyone does it. Wayne Rooney was blasted by the vocal minority of United fans when he decided they weren’t ambitious enough. Over the last few summers Fabregas has taken it in the neck from a small but growing group from down the road for his annual Barca flirtation. Once they have been convinced of their respective clubs ‘ambition’ they have been welcomed back into the fold no questions asked. Undoubtedly some of the fans will lose a bit of love for one of their heroes but when they deliver on the pitch it becomes almost impossible to keep resenting. This will be the case with Luka too, if he leads us back to the Champions League or helps us to a trophy this season, the current media driven frenzy will be all but forgotten as his name is sung loud.
The role played by the media in this is of course the reason for much of the bad feeling from fans. Most of the major media outlets have played a part in pushing this story and twisting it to their own agenda, Sky Sports News however have firmly led the way. ‘Sky Sports News understands….’ is a phrase that is now guaranteed to raise the ire of most Spurs fans. Levy, Redknapp and the rest of our PR and media team need to look at this very closely. Let’s not forget that recently we’ve been good enough to allow SSN exclusive access to Jermain Defoe for a half hour special feature and also let Harry Redknapp sit in their studio for 30 minutes earlier in the week. Not to mention Redknapps almost constant presence on the channel during the season of course. Unrivalled access that no other club of our level seems to offer up. It might be wise to make them think again by playing our cards closer to our chest in the future. Although it’s important to remember that we also use them for our own purposes and getting our ‘message’ out. Anyway, stopping Harry talking to them could prove nigh on impossible.
This saga is going to run and run. Luka is due to meet Harry Redknapp later today to discuss his future while Modric’s agent is now being quoted as saying that he won’t be requesting a transfer, which is great to hear. It would be nice to hear something encouraging from the little man himself, his silence doesn’t really help promote positive thoughts and it would be good for him to clear up that Mail interview from a couple of weeks ago. Even so, you still get the feeling he’s not the type to throw his toys out the pram. *cough* Berbatov *cough*. Chelsea won’t take this lying down, it seems inconceivable that they won’t test the chairmans resolve again. It’s also impossible to rule out late moves by either of the Manchester clubs who are both admirers of Modric, but then again, who isn’t an admirer?
Personally I still feel, he’ll get a pay rise, get his head down and be told to help us back into the Champions League next year. If we don’t get that he will then be allowed to move on and with there still being 4 years left on his contract at that point, Levy will still be able to make a stunning profit on the deal. Hopefully he’ll use some of that pay rise to buy himself some new shorts, the Wham look should have stayed in the 80′s.
Just like our chairman, I’ll reiterate this, Luka Modric is going nowhere, he’s a Spurs player and we won’t be selling our best players. It’s time for Levy to stick to his word, for once it’s clear his words aren’t those of a negotiator, and tell Roman or anyone else where to stick their chequebook.
COYS
Submitted by Stuart Watts from THFC1882
