Speaking of Spurs

[MonkeyLove]

Very good model for us to follow.

They are a class well above us at the moment but have done it over a period of time building sensibly.

An income far in excess of ours admittedly but that is partly because Levy, as much as he is bloody annoying, is a shrewd guy.

Managing to get the largest sponsorship deal in UK history a few years ago when only a top 8 side was a master stroke and getting his valuation for a player plus any other money a team has lying around is a masterstroke.

Pienaar & Krancjar looked very good today - When you think they paid 5 million combined for them thats excellent business. Same with Van Der Varrt for 8 million and Bale for 5 ish. They have bought other young players - Ala Dawson, Lennon for little money and been patient for them to progress

They have spent some cash but also tend to make sure they get it back and have a tight wage structure they stick to.

I dont really like Spurs but they have done well to be where they are considering what they are fighting against with the rest of the big boys and ironically on there day they have not just a first 11, but a bench up there with the best in the league can put out. No mean feat for a team on a budget

[Whipporwill]

The main reason why we'll never be like Spurs: Players find London a better place to play, for some reason and it's easier to attract names like VDV to London, rather than the North-east.

I agree with you about the budget though, I do believe we need to look at the bigger picture with regards to sponsors, Tombola are a local company fair play but if we went all out looking for a big name sponsor this would have brought in a little bit more cash and made more people take up serious.

Onwards and upwards though, I'm sure we'll get there eventually.