You’ve probably figured out that Tottenham Hotspur is a stupidly run football club. The problem is that the club itself hasn’t figured that out yet. David Ornstein is probably the most respected football rumor reporter in the English media, and he’s out with a quick report saying that, two months after trying to sign him for real money in January, Spurs are still interested in Liverpool fullback Andy Robertson when his contract expires this summer, IF Tottenham manage to escape relegation.
I honestly can’t figure this club out. I suppose that, if Johan Lange was interested in Robertson in January, it tracks that they’d still be interested in Robertson (but for FREE) this summer. But Robertson is 32, is firmly behind Milos Kerkez now at Liverpool, and is starting to show signs that he’s either very close to the cliff or has already taken a step or two over the edge. Also, the past two transfer windows have been pretty disastrous — which goes some way towards explaining the whole might-get-relegated thing — and it’s pretty damning that the major rumors are all reheated ones from either this past January or earlier. In short, Spurs haven’t adjusted their transfer targets seemingly at all, and there’s still the relegation anvil hanging over their heads.
In a short editorial down the page from Ornstein’s rather basic report, The Athletic reporter Elias Burke suggests that Robertson could be an addition to the “culture” at Spurs. Culture is all well and good, but the best way to fix club culture is to sign very good players, and I am no longer convinced Andy Robertson fits in that category. You can get all the “clubhouse guys” in a team that you want, but it doesn’t matter if they keep losing to Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
But also — we have two left backs already! Destiny Udogie is made of glass, but Djed Spence can also play (decently well) there, and also isn’t that why we signed Souza in January? And now potentially Robertson in a season without European football? Make it make sense!
Look, I don’t want Spurs to be relegated, but it’s hard to imagine this club improving all that much with the same chuckleheads in charge that got us here. That includes the people identifying potential talent like Andy Robertson on a free this summer. There were rumors that Robert De Zerbi was going to take a more active role in recruitment (described as a “Fergie role”) and I’m not sure I like that idea either, but at least it’s different. Weirdly enough, though it could be financially and culturally catastrophic for the club, at least relegation would force Spurs to think outside the box for once. Relegation might save this club from itself.
