[devwakey]

Well put that Salop.

It's like the Odemwingie Sarga!

Odemwingie actually ended up private messaging me on Twitter explaining that he had been told to get down to QPR and went and said goodbye to all the staff etc...

When he got there the clubs hadn't made an agreement making him look foolish!

The club obviously weren't going to say sorry that's our fault and look bad for not getting the deal done!

What resulted was one person being made to look a fool and will always be remembered for that, Berahino will no doubt have been told a deal would be done, he seems to have a good relationship with TP and that's is why he has directed his message solely at Jeremy Pearce.

The deal offered by Spurs sounded awful and last minute obviously they thought would play into their hands - instead we have been left with a player considered our best, with a sour taste in his mouth and most likely 25,000 of his own fans booing him week in week out!

Nobody in this situation is the winner!

[BaggieMan]

Some great posts here, especially Broken Man and Silver.

What really pisses me off with this whole affair is how Berahino had the gall to infer how the club had treated him.
Was he not a Burundian refugee who was, at the age of 9 years, taken under the wing of West Bromwich Albion and nurtured by us to become the player he is (or was) today. An example of loyalty to a club who stood by him with his speeding offence and sniffing that happy stuff.

What also pee's me off is the behaviour of Daniel Levy and Spurs who obviously unsettled OUR player in an attempt to get him on the cheap and the media largely spouting on about Spurs final offer being £25m cash. It wasn't all up front and being last minute, didn't give us any chance of securing the services of a proven striker - as Broken said, it was a £5m down payment followed by a tenner a week with various restrictions and get-outs.

Saido should be ashamed of himself and I sincerely hope his dear mum tells him so. He should be relegated to the junior team and if he refuses to play, stop any payments to him and let him rot until his contract expires. His England career is likely to be over for the foreseeable future as will be his appeal to other larger clubs who may have, until now, wished to acquire his services. I'm sure any big club would now be reluctant given his history.

Finally, good for JP for standing up to this cockney bugger at Spurs. I again sincerely hope JP will NEVER sell him to Levy and Co whatever the price and indeed, never do business with Tottenham Hotspur again while Levy is there.

I wonder what the Spurs re-action would have been had the roles been reversed with us going for Harry Kane ?

[Stairs]

You may think your house is worth 100k, but if your best offer is 80k, your house in reality is worth 80k, (whether paid in instalments or any other way).

Your wife asks you to move house and you reluctantly agreed to do it. But only if the valuation of £100k was met.
Subsequently someone agrees to the asking price. That's great and your wife is happy and excited.
But then they actually you £20k up front followed by a series of 4 additional 20k payments over 2 years based on how much they like living there.
You can't buy anywhere else to live for 20k and no-one else is prepared to sell there house on the basis of annual instalments.

So you have to refuse the sale.

Your wife is pissed off with you, her friends who don't know the facts point fingers at you and you are made to look the villain.

[drewks]

....some interesting comments here from SPURS fans (not ours) at the end of the article:
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/09/02/rep...es/page/1/

[talkSAFT]

Good to read those realistic comments from Spurs fans.

This episode (+ the ManU/Real episode) are getting just headlines. None of these farces would have happened if there was NO Tfr Window. Scrap it, or at least change it (somehow) NOW - before we get the same in January. And let's hear a public apology from Levy today, not just to WBA, but also to Laughing Boy.

[Borders Baggie]

Agreed, some really great points being posted.

I think that Jeremy Peace has done Saido a big favour. I cannot for the life of me understand his desperation to join Tottenham Hotspur. The club change manager / head coach almost every year (much the same as us!!) and spend fortunes on players because this year 'we'll finish top 4 and get into the Champions League'.

It never happens, they under achieve every season in my opinion, for the money they spend. If Saido had real ambition, he'd keep his head down and work to earn a move to a 'big' club, not one that bubbles under annually. However, the fast track to better money seems the way he wants to go. Earning more in one season at the Baggies than I've earned in my 32 years of employment obviously not enough for him.

I've nothing against being ambitious, but with his head screwed on and the correct guidance, I'm sure he could find himself a much better oppotunity.

[Salopbaggie]

Just when I though this would all quieten down, Spurs come back saying their final bid was £25 million cash. Someone is blatantly lying and for everyone concerned I think the truth must come out. I know its the Daily Fail and I don't pay any attention to them any other time, but....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footbal...front.html

[drewks]

Just when I though this would all quieten down, Spurs come back saying their final bid was £25 million cash.  Someone is blatantly lying and for everyone concerned I think the truth must come out.  I know its the Daily Fail and I don't pay any attention to them any other time, but....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footbal...front.html

Well if it's JP's word against that of that scr*te Daniel Levy, I know which one I'd believe!!
(....and many Spurs fans, by the look of it.)

Not saying ANY more about this

(...till the next time   )

[silverbaggie]

I think us older posters are making the mistake that we still have this strange belief that it is supposed to be about the football, when in reality the game of football has no relevance anymore and it is purely coincidental that football is the product they are selling to make money. These days it is all about business and money whether that be from the clubs, the leagues, the media or the players. 

More controversy coming

I think we are treating Berahino a little harshly, yes he was wrong and has given our rivals a great excuse for a good laugh at us, but, we go on about his loyalty and that he is a spoilt brat, but lets look at how we would feel.  

Please don't consider it flak Salop, just another point of view.

As for treating Berahino harshly or, before him Odemwingie or Anelka I think that the antics of these three players have done more damage to our proud club's reputation than merely being laughed at.

Players who are capable of thinking for themselves, and yes there must be a few out there somewhere, are not going to want to join a Club that appears to be mired in controversy and makes newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons.

All working men and women suffer from broken promises at some time during their careers but, if we then behaved like Berahino, we would very quickly be shown the door.

Finally, I don't think it's a mistake to think that there should be more to the game of football than simply making money.

During this last month I started to go to the home matches of my now local club Cheltenham Town.

They were relegated from the league last season but, even so, it seems very few supporters have stopped going to the games.
The club got rid of most of their squad to cut costs and re-built almost from scratch.
The way in which the new players are gelling together can be seen with each match played and the crowd of 2,000 to 2,500 really get behind the players.
At the end of the game the players and Manager parade around the ground applauding the fans for their support.

To quote a well known phrase:- " It's a whole new ball game"

It might not be a bad idea if Albion sent SB out on loan to remind him how the other half really lives BUT

Not to Cheltenham please!!!

[BaggyBomber]

I think us older posters are making the mistake that we still have this strange belief that it is supposed to be about the football, when in reality the game of football has no relevance anymore and it is purely coincidental that football is the product they are selling to make money. These days it is all about business and money whether that be from the clubs, the leagues, the media or the players.  

Gone of the days when players usually came from close to the club they played for, as did the fans.  Gone have the days when a players main consideration was winning the league or a cup, now its what their next car will be or showing off their new £50,000 watch and maybe a little bit of it would be fun to play in the Champions League.  

The clubs look to increase profit anyway they can regardless of the effect on the club or the fans.  If JP or any other chairman for that matter thought the club would earn more by playing in the bottom tier of football that's what they would aim for.  Why do we need a newly designed strip every year, if not to sell more shirts?

Its about doing anything to please the media and "sod the fans, it will make us more money".  Just look at the way the clubs will move games with no regards to the fans all so they can show a game on a Sunday morning or Monday night (and earn more money).

Now for the controversial bit, as I know JP has kept us in the black and in the premiership, but I am not convinced as he has done anything different to what any accountant running "the business" would have done.  This is not in any way a dig at JP.  Simple accountants rule "never take any risks, not even calculated ones" and I am sure that any of you that have ever worked in an organisation run by an accountant would agree.  I am not saying that that policy is wrong, just do not expect anything different.

More controversy coming

I think we are treating Berahino a little harshly, yes he was wrong and has given our rivals a great excuse for a good laugh at us, but, we go on about his loyalty and that he is a spoilt brat, but lets look at how we would feel.  

We go ask about moving on from our company "to bigger and better things", the boss says "We are really stuck at the moment, if you will stay for one more year, you can go with our blessing, so we agree and put in the shift asked for and play a big part in saving the company from going under.  Come the following year, the boss says "Well now you can go, IF......".

Not the agreement we signed up to a year before.  How would we feel?  

No way we should sell him off on the cheap, but I am sure statements like "Berahino is not for sale at any price" helped his attitude very much.  Neither do statements saying "there are 15 clubs in after him"  I think the lad had good reason to believe that he would move on.  Before people say "should we sell him for less than he is worth", absolutely not, but anything or anybody in this case is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.  You may think your house is worth 100k, but if your best offer is 80k, your house in reality is worth 80k, (whether paid in instalments or any other way).

Of course  SB went about it in the wrong way and was stupid to post that message to twitter, which I put down to his age and naivety .  But I do pose the question where was the loyalty the club showed in honouring their promise to him?

Unfortunately I think SB got stuck between to of the largest footballing ego's in the country and will ultimately be the one to pay the price, as no top club will look at him now for at least a year and probably more and IMO all he can do now is apologise to all concerned and hope for the best.

All in all a sad state of affairs, for everyone.  Bring on the flack ;-)

Goodness knows where you find the energy to write such an epistle, Salop.  Congratulations on your stamina.  As to the sentiment; for me it's a curate's egg.