The window shuts, the door remains locked
Deadline day always does my head in. Judging by the reaction of other Spurs fans on social media, everyone's head is done in equally. As the day grew older by the hour the disdain for Daniel Levy got more expletive. See the thing is, regardless of what business you do before the final day of the summer transfer window - the actual signings made in the final 24 hours seem to take priority. It's like the signings are game-changers. The cherry on top of the cake. It's akin to having the final word in an argument.
Sure, some deals don't get done until the very end because of the domino effect that sees a club rely on departures before making acquisitions and vice versa. With us, during the course of the summer, Mauricio Pochettino appears to have worked with Daniel Levy and Franco Baldini (and possibly supported by Ian Broomfield) to capture several defensive players. In fact that's all we've bought. Arguably, there have been inquires and bids for targets that have not materialised.
This is where the distortion creeps in and festers. Morgan Schneiderlin is a player Pochettino has asked for. We've bid for him. Possibly more than once. He's not being allowed to move. That doesn't mean we wont go back in for him again. If he's that fancied and Levy is backing our coach then within the club, everyone might be content with the wait. It's important to note in this theoretical that the club are working with Pochettino. Benjamin Stambouli has signed and is apparently (according to those that have seen him play more than once) a decent player. He might turn out to be as good as Schneiderlin. Let's also not ignore how many supporters we're nonplussed about spending £20M on the Southampton midfielder. Perception and hype can make you want something more than the thing you so easily dismiss when there is no true difference.
Not every target is viable, especially if the club that own the player won't sell. Jay Rodriguez is injured and was another player linked. Another one we'll wait for? All pretty much irrelevant now until January or next summer.
I'm not a Levy apologist so to be clear, my point is that the club went for the players they wanted and signed most of them. The one we couldn't sign was covered off with another signing. No panic buys. Also no opportunistic signings. Perhaps a clue that the chairman isn't bringing in players above and beyond the coach - although a van der Vaart type of surprise would have, dare I say, galvanised the fanbase and given us that something extra what with the brave decision to let go some of clubs characters in Dawson, Sandro and Holtby.
We've got plenty of disgust being spat that we've not bought enough in key areas. I've got no argument with that. Another striker and a flanker would have been grand. If no loan deals or other targets were looked at is this because we failed to work hard enough or again did Levy and Pochettino have an understanding? Something to do with the £100M outlay last summer and the fact that our business model doesn't allow for speculative spending. It never has and yet we keep expecting to see something magical and mystical play out on the final day because once upon a time we got lucky.
The club have done what they do best. Made a bit of money by selling players. More hope (as I'm not privy to internal discussions at Hotspur Way) that Poch gave a thumbs up at the departing first team squad players and was okay to do so with depth in mind. When you start considering Europa League and African Cup of Nations then once more you have to look towards patience and acceptance which means the club have to be backing Pochettino. If injuries ruin our momentum then the club can hardly point the finger of blame at themselves. Although they could manipulate and point the finger to the obvious target.
They can not pressure Pochettino in terms of what we need to achieve this season. I'm talking about the classic 'Champions League or your sacked' ethos. Football is the midst of changing. It's shifted up a notch. The money spent by those above us is obscene. The club don't have an honesty policy so we don't quite know why the TV money and the transfer profit isn't spent with bravery and risk. It probably isn't because with the new stadium in perpetual stasis we have to hold back as no one quite knows what we plan to pay for it with as naming rights and outside investment remains a mystery.
I did remark (more than once) that last seasons investments were tormented by our lack of direction and planning on the pitch. It's a massive ask to expect all of the players to come together and play really well - mainly because it now feels like some were signed simply because we could (Bale money). Pochettino's task is to give us a sense of progression and style. It would take a cluster**** of epic proportions for him to lose his job. If he loses it because of some whimsical ambition that we should be in amongst it and is sacked then we'll never get anywhere.
It's going to be a season of grafting. We are light-weight. All that is left for us now that the window has shut is to attempt to unlock the door in front of us. We've got to back the coach. The job he has is only made impossible by the expectations we desire.