A year ago Spurs tried underhand tactics to try and persuade Morgan Schneiderlin that his future lay at White Hart Lane, a year on and they still have not discovered any ethics.

Last year Morgan Schneiderlin was the subject of interest from Spurs, their tactics were simple, unsettle the player through is agent and the media and then try and get him on the cheap, hoping that Saints would see his position as untenable and want to be shot of him at any price, the fact that offered £12 million and that a year later he went to Manchester United for £25 million, over double what Spurs were willing to pay, tells you all you want to now about te shoddy way that Spurs do business and in Mauricio Pochettino they have found a manager after their own heart.

Now they are employing the same tactics to unsettle Wanyama, a month ago there was no suggestion that the Kenyan was anything other than happy at St Mary's, he had a great pre season and then was superb in the games against Vitesse, all was looking well before he suddenly got itchy feet.

Since then there was firstly his non appearance in the second leg against FC Midjytlland due to a supposed stomach bug and then he was left out of the squad against Norwich because he wasn't in the right frame of mind to play, something that really grates with the average supporter who wishes they could ring in work and have a few days off every now and again with that excuse.

Now on the final day of the transfer window, Saints fans wait with baited breath to see if the Club will stand firm on their promise not to sell Wanyama, I think they won't, Spurs problem is they are too clever for their own good, far from persuading Saints to sell they have achieved the opposite effect and made their resolution not to sell him even more firm.

Perhaps if Tottenham made a decent offer through the right channels in the first place they might get their man, but they prefer this way of doing business in the hope of getting the player cheaply because the selling club has been backed into a corner and now has a player whose position could be untenable.

Hopefully Saints will make a stand for all clubs everywhere, that contracts man something and that if a player wants out there is a right way to do it, at the moment there seems to be several clubs who operate in a way that is not ethical, they seem to think that they can do what they want, perhaps its because their managers are thoroughly obnoxious people, certainly in the case of Spurs & Liverpool that is true.

Wanyama should look at the Schneiderlin saga and ask himself whether jumping at the first self proclaimed big club to sign him is the right move, he should look at the way they do business and consider whether he would want to join a club like that, Spurs squad is littered with big money signings who have been ostracised when things haven't worked out (as is Liverpool's) for the sake of big money now, Wanyama could find his career in tatters.

Some clubs are big in name but little in class, some are small in name and big in class, I know what one Saints & Spurs both are at this moment in time

Photo: Action Images

SonicBoom added 10:28 - Sep 1 Seems a bit hysterical for you Nick.... I severely doubt that nowadays the manager has much influence over the way transfers are conducted. Certainly Rodgers is famously part of a committee that oversees things. Poch is probably the same at Spurs. Levy would be more culpable than him. And to say that Vic could find his career "in tatters" is a statement of tabloid proportions! What they have done is set Vic up for a move in January. Everyone knows he wants out so despite keeping him it is a hollow victory and he won't be regarded in the same way by Saints fans again. Not the nicest way to do business but clubs are not there to be nice.

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Scummer added 10:31 - Sep 1 This is my favourite post from you - absolutely mirrors my own thoughts on the matter. Saints should flat out refuse to deal with clubs and agents linked with tapping up, intentionally unsettling players, and flagrant abuse of the rules via agents, social media, and tradition media outlets. Make it clear how Saints do business and stick to that line.
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SpurredoninDublin added 10:39 - Sep 1 It's interesting that you ask people to report libellous posts. Do you have any proof that Spurs set out to unsettle the player through his agent? If not, your comments are libellous. Of course we can wait for the PL to investigate the claim, but wait a minute, Soton haven't made one! I wonder why not? Perhaps they are waiting to amalgmate it with a complaint that Spurs Belgian players tapped up Alderweireld? Notwithstanding that, we are currently in the maddest transfer market of all time. Depending on what paper you read Spurs are alleged to have offered £12-15 mill for MS last year. Did anybody offer any more than that? If the answer is "no", then any business man (I assume you are not one) will tell you that the value of anything is what someone is prepared to pay for it now. The fact that Manure are prepared to pay £25 mill in this grossly over inflated market this year, does not mean that this player was worth more than £12-15 mill last year. I can understand your anger at Spurs, but the truth is that players and agents have no loyalty to the clubs. So far there has been nothing mentioned at WHL that they are even interested in the player, and you might want to think about the idea that maybe the agent leaked the story. It would not be the first time. I recall Chamakh telling the whole world that Spurs were interested in him, though this was untrue. Then there was Adel Taraabt who was telling the whole world that Manure was interested in him, which was also untrue. It's what players and agents do in order to screw their current clubs for more money or to get other clubs interested in buying them. Players like Le Tissier and Payne are an almost extinct species. It's interesting that Wanyama was not really on anybody's radar until Alderweireld made the comment about him following his error against Stoke. Unlike Berahino, I haven't seen anything in the media from Soton to the effect of "He is not for sale and we feel Spurs interest is unwelcome", though the Berahino story put out by WBA is full of mixed messages to begin with and should not be taken at face value.

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1970 added 11:15 - Sep 1 This story about Wanyama was created by a sky sports reporter that is a spurs supporter his name escapes me but his twitter feed was clear he is a Spurs fan and he twisted the fact Vic didn't agree a new contract into he wants to leave,and leave now, he also wants to go to Spurs so listen to Toby, and in truth Nick didn't they offer Townsend and 12 mill? for Morgan, I don't care much for Spurs or Victor personally Saints know they can keep him until end of the season and get what they paid for him so it's a no brainer, tottenham on the other hand are willing to pay 18 mill for him so surely if the move was fiction where did that come from, Spurs are not as good as they think they are and a lot of there players are very average and leaving, they need a massive rebuild to how Pocahontas plays lol, to the spurs fan saying we didn't complain to the FA come-on mate clubs don't do that sort of thing its a gentlemens thing but chairmen do so maybe Spurs lack of transfers could be the chairman's problem but who knows, Wanyama should stay coyr

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saintsnutcase added 11:15 - Sep 1 I agree with you Nick and I think we have had a good window. If JRod is back to his best, we have effectively signed a new forward and I don't think Charlie Austin would have got much game time., and I hope that VVD will replace Toby. We haven t replaced Schneiderlin with similar quality but that would be impossible. Wanyama won t do much more for us, but Romeu and Classie should be good enough. My main worry is right back, but let's give Cedric some time. Also I really hope that JWP will become a genuine starter.

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BaselSaint added 11:27 - Sep 1 Conclusions; 1) Spurs cannot dictate to us any more - we are too big for them 2) I hate the Spuds
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DPeps added 11:29 - Sep 1 Hi Spurredon - I'm not sure that libel laws work in the same way in football as in the rest of society. Being a football fan involves making a lot of highly subjective claims that don't have much basis in fact, as does being a football journalist. Some of these claims may be defamatory to other clubs or players. I suspect clubs don't go through with accusing other clubs of tapping-up or breaches of contract etc. because it's much easier for them to sort these things out of court. At any rate, I suspect Spurs will get Vic in January. I agree with your points about player loyalty, and reckon we just need to accept that players are only really loyal nowadays where they are guaranteed some degree of success (e.g. Gerrard, Lampard). On Nick's point about Spurs being mean - Celtic would probably say the same about us at the moment!

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IWOZTHERE added 11:56 - Sep 1 Felt a lot brighter and sunnier today until I read your points about Spurs 'bad behaviour'. Set aside the ethics and unsettling players inferences,but some of the rest could describe Saints dealings over Alderweireld. O.K there was supposed to be some sort of option but the bottom line was that WE didn't get 'on the case' early enough because WE were complacently thinking we'd get him on the cheap! Someone HERE was too clever for his own good!...With you on the rest of your piece and hopefully VD will anyway be as good or better than TA.

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darkangelv2 added 11:58 - Sep 1 I think the biggest issue in the modern game isn't a lack of loyalty to a club - it's the lack of respect that they should fulfil a contract that they happily agree to at its outset! At the same time - one must remember Wanyama was signed during the Cortese era. Who knows what (fantasy) promises were made that the club were unable to fulfil.
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SanMarco added 12:26 - Sep 1 I think all roads lead to Sky's domination of the PL. Sky Sources this, Sky Bet that. Why wouldn't an organisation like Spurs (or Saints for that matter) use the resources available to them. It is modern capitalism at its best/worst. Those old enough to remember Stan Flashman, 'king of the touts' will know that he was regarded as a villain. Now buying up tickets for events you have no intention of attending, thus restricting supply and raising the price for re-sale, is labelled excellent 'free enterprise' by the government. Basically we are run by a bunch of immoral sharks who fleece us and have contempt for us and football is an excellent microcosm/metaphor for modern life. If any of us tried to ignore a contract or intentionally broke the rules, or hacked a murder victims phone etc the brown stuff would hit us with all the wrath of the law. Financiers, Sky, footballers, football clubs, transnational companies etc do not have to obey the rules like we do and even if they are called to account they don't care - I believe Arsenal were fined tuppence happeny for Calum Chambers and if Spurs were to eventually to be ticked off the fine would be about one day of VW's new salary. Sorry to those of you that read through all that but rant over and at least I FEEL BETTER....

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SpurredoninDublin added 12:37 - Sep 1 @Dpeps. Thanks for your reply. Just a couple of contradictions to your post. Libel is Libel even if it's on a blog like this. My original point was really about the fact that this site quite rightly does not want libellous comments, but unless the OP can prove what he says, the post is clearly libellous. The other point regards complaints to the PL. I am not saying that tapping up doesn't happen, but when it can be proved, clubs will either complain to the PL because if found guilty the offending club can face a transfer embago. Spurs caught both Manure and Cheatski, and were given £1 mill payoffs not to raise a complaint. But your comments about Celtic have really identified the problem. As for Scummer, if Saints followed his suggestion, there would be nobody left to do business with because the problem stems from greedy players and agents. There is only one way that this will be ended, and that is if FIFA intervene and tell players, "You have signed a contract and your club insists that you honour it. You may decide that you are effectively going to go on strike but now that your club has complained, we are not going to sanction your move, and unless the proposed buyer withdraws the interest straight away, we will order a worldwide embargo on all purchases by them for the next 12 months". Once a player realises that there is nothing he can do other than to honour the contract, it will effectively emasculate the agents which is where the real problem lies.

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DPeps added 13:16 - Sep 1 @spurredon - thanks. You're right about the contradiction on the site. I suppose my point is whether blogs and newspaper articles about football transfers are read as entertainment or as pertaining to fact. I'm no lawyer though, so perhaps that doesn't matter. @darkangelv2 - contracts exist for the benefit of clubs as much as players. Contract length determines a player's worth and clubs break a player's contract when he's sold, albeit with his consent. If clubs and players honoured all contracts there would just be free transfers, which would be another way to organise things but might not be any better.

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SpurredoninDublin added 15:12 - Sep 1 @Dpeps I am sure that nobody is going to sue Dpeps or the site over this, but as you so decently conceded, it was the site contradiction that caught my eye. Now that we are reading that Wanayama is on route to Nairobi, and as 1970 points out, the story originated from a Sky journo who is a Spurs fan, I am very inclined to doubt if there was any real substance to this story to begin with. That cuts right across your comment about whether we should treat these stories as fact or entertainment. Spurs have four (what I would call) "Crown Jewels" players: LLoris, Vertonghen, Kane and Eriksen. All four of them said they were happy at Spurs at the end of last season, even though two of them were heavily linked with moves to Manure before they spoke. That did not stop stop the "meeja" inventing multiple offers for three of these. Remember the first of these: The £67 mill offer for Kane? None of the bloggers who posted this story ever referred to it in the later stories about offers for Kane. i suspect that the Angry Brigade at Saint Mary's might well have based their hatred on a totally fictitious story. Anyway, good luck in the this season.

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BoondockSaint added 15:29 - Sep 1 Maybe the Saints haven't filed a complaint because it's really pointless. Money talks in every sport. Leagues of every sport take the high moral ground "This is unacceptable ! He's banned for life!" Then there is an appeal and the player/owner is let off. The bigger the star, more likely everything is swept under the rug. So the power is all in the player's hands. If they want to go, they're going..

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SaintBrock added 15:46 - Sep 1 "@darkangelv2 said- contracts exist for the benefit of clubs as much as players. Contract length determines a player's worth and clubs break a player's contract when he's sold, albeit with his consent. If clubs and players honoured all contracts there would just be free transfers, which would be another way to organise things but might not be any better." Unless of course the rule could be changed and Club' s were still able to get a fee set by a tribunal for their asset even when a player allows his contract to run out. In other words you remove the fear to clubs of a zero fee and the pressure that is puts clubs under to sell before they are really ready to. Then a club could insist on a player staying for the agreed contractual period and know that they would get a fee - albeit reduced - for the player.

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SpurredoninDublin added 16:08 - Sep 1 @Saint Brock. Fees can still be set by a tribunal provided both clubs agree. Usually though, they rarely agree with the value placed on the player by the selling club. The Danny Ings transfer is to be determined by tribunal.
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