Dier Provides Spurs with Early Season Tonic

Article by Guy Flitton

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'And so as another season begins the optimisim of pre-season ends and the reality kicks in'.

As I settled down to watch the first show of the 100th consecutive season of Match of the Day the above quote from a wisened BBC pundit struck a nerve. Whilst not aimed directly at Spurs, (it was in fact towards our friends from the Geordie Shore), I could not help but feel that it was none the less rather apt.

This would certainly have been the case had we suffered what would have been a fourth straight loss to Wham. Such was my fear that this was inevitable after Naughton's early removal from the match that I had began preparations for not venturing out in public for at least a week, including informing work that my Ebola was giving me trouble again and so not to expect me in the office, and only leaving my flat once dusk had fallen to buy cheap Vodka from Londis to ease the pain.

It is with a great deal of relief then, that I have not had to resort to this admittedly somewhat drastic plan. Our eventual winner came from the most unlikely of sources (even more so than Lamela) , in the form of Eric Dier. I must admit that on hearing that Spurs had signed someone by the name of Dier I for a moment feared the worst, and that Franco Baldini had pulled off another 'masterstroke' by signing up the medical phenomenon that is Kieron Dyer. This was not aided in anyway by a number of texts from friends assuring me that this was indeed the case.

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Dier was the highlight of the Spurs performance for me. Quick, strong, and with an ability read the game well he looks like a quality addition to the squad. While far from the finished article, this was a performance that suggested that he will be challenging for a regular starting spot in the team, and is not there simply to provide cover as many had assumed.

The highlight from a Hammers perspective was the surprising appearance of a potato faced pitch invader (no, not you Andy Carroll), leading the sleeping stewards a merry dance before punting the ball into row Z. After this individual was led away to the local nick, unconfirmed reports have suggested that Big Sam was on route to bail him out and guarantee him a spot in the Hammers first XI.

So what of my hopes for transfer activity in what is left of the current window? Our signings so far have been very low key, solid yet uninspiring. After the difficulties of integrating so many new players last season,it is hoped that this is for the best. The squad as it stands is probably a little bloated, and would benefit from moving on some of the fringe players, allowing Poch to identify what he feels to be his strongest starting line up. This being said, I would love to see a quality striker brought in. Mattia Destro ( a man who sounds from his surname alone like he should be in Avengers Assemble or some such), has been mooted, so we will await to see what happens here.

As we all know splashing the cash does not provide immediate answers. Arsene Wenger, a man who had previously not been able to make a meaningful contribution to the excitement of the transfer window for at least the past 5 years, is now fully aware of this fact. Having been turned down by every payday lender in town Wenger must have thought he'd struck it lucky when he finally found the PIN number to the Gunners EasyCash account taped to the bottom of some old relic in the Arsenal trophy cabinet.Despite last seasons highly fortuitous FA Cup win, since going spending crazy these signings have yet to deliver on an individual level. (Mesut Ozil I'm definitely looking at you here).

Finally, hopes for the season ahead. Soldado and Lamela to come good. At least a decent challenge for the top four. And, a long overdue decent run in the FA Cup. Just imagine if we could even win the thing. That would be nice. Very nice indeed.

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