Oh the joys of being a Spurs supporter. Just when we win another premiership game against Norwich that took us into 5th place and our first glimpse of "Conte Ball" ,then we see the team has Covid-19 rip through their camp. Warning signs were there against Norwich when Tananga was played at right wing back instead of Emerson Royal who had taken "ill". Byron Gil was also "ill". The eagle eye Spurs fan would have noticed that Ryan Mason and Spurs assistant coach Cristian Stellini were also absent. News started spreading that up to 6 players and 2 of the coaching staff have contracted the virus and it is unknown who the other 4 players are. Spurs as well as other team are not likely to name names due to private medical reasons obviously so we will see the team sheet on Thursday and make our own minds up.
So where does that leave Spurs.
We play Rennes this Thursday in the Conference league and by UEFA Rules if there is 14 of the squad healthy then the game goes ahead so I think this will happen. Now Spurs cannot win the group but they have to win by more than 2 to ensure qualification after their embarrassing defeat to Mura two weeks ago.
It will be very very interesting to see who Conte goes with this week. If Dele Ali or Ndombele don't play it means that Antonio doesn't trust them after the Mura debacle, (They may be forced to play depending on the level of infection). But this week will give us as clear of an indication who Conte wants out the door in January. Dele and Ndombele are known to be bad trainers, something that Conte hates. Would you believe Conte didn't like training Eden Hazard at Chelsea because he was a bad trainer and this is probably telling now with his lacklustre displays for Madrid. A little birdie told me he is being offered back to English clubs to make way for Killian.
Anyway the premier league fixture of Brighton is at the weekend and this may be postponed. You can apply to the Premier League for the match to be postponed. It is unlike UEFA and they look at a match to match basis. Brighton actually have a heap of injuries as well so it may suit them to postpone so it will all be clear in the coming days.
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The good news is the the Burnley postponement due to snow was a godsend and Conte finally had time with the squad to train. I think hanging on until the transfer window opens is a strategy for Spurs and then Conte with Paradici can get to work. It was interesting watching Paradici in the Juventus All Or Nothing Documentary. The guy is a serial winner who brought Ronaldo and Paul Pogba to Juve so he will start raiding Italian in January for clubs that want to cash in on expiring contracts. There may be a few swap deals and we will have Newcastle hopefully taking a few of the English dead wood off our hands such as Winks and Dele. I can't wait to get these guys out the door so that Conte can bring in his own players. Do I include Harry Kane in this wish. Maybe I do. Maybe it is time to cash in on him while he still holds value. He has been off the pace since he came back after flirting with City. But contrary to popular belief , city never put in a serious bid for him. £75 million is all city bid plus La Porte. No wonder Levy turned them down. If the oil rich club want to take him then he is all theres for 160 million. I'm sure Levy would leave him go for 150 million. But let them cough up. I think City board are cautious buying a player that is closer to 30. Why not sign Vlahovic or Haaland? Pep wants Kane. Why oh why did they sign Grealish before him. It doesn't make sense. It makes for an interesting transfer window.
Roll on January.
