A Tottenham Way Reunion: Mudryk Madness, Tonali's Fitness & The Transfer Window

0:00Welcome back to Rule the Roost. Yes, it's one of those annoying ad read type things at the top of a podcast you're looking forward to listening to. Thanks for tuning in. Just a quick request before I start. If you want to help support the show this season, please leave me a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can drop me a follow on Instagram at Ted Trunk or if you really fancy, head over to patreon.com slash RTR pod for extra episodes and access to the Discord community. All of these things really help the podcast to get discovered by more Spurs fans, and it keeps the show growing for the new campaign.

0:34Thanks for the support, and now, on with the show. Before the season even kicks off, soccer fans are already making predictions. Who wins the league? Who qualifies for Europe? And who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Calci, America's number one prediction market platform, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. For a limited time, download the CalShe app and use code CUP26 to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I, CalShe. Trade the beautiful game. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.

1:07Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshe.com slash regulatory. Hey, Chicago. Class it up with Crocs. You know back to school is coming in fast. So why wait to find your new fave footwear? Step into a local Crocs store and step into your new look. Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up. It shows off. First day fits handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest Crocs store today.

1:47Tom Foins:Low energy? Unfocused? Foggy? You might be dehydrated. Whether it's hot yoga, over 100 degree weather, or too much sun, Gatorlite, with a specialized blend of five electrolytes, was scientifically designed to help move fluids into the body faster for rapid rehydration. Shop now at retailers nationwide. Gatorlite hydrates faster than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. Hello and welcome to Rule the Roost podcast. jack is away again for this episode he's taking the advice of the new spurs medical team and taking a cautious approach to his recovery so i see you in february i suppose jack if that's if that's how it's going um but standing in his stead is me tom foins and joining me today is dan kilpatrick from view from the lane and the athletic hello dan how are you sir hello tom very well sir yourself rusty with this uh hosting lark but it's good to have a familiar face sitting on the other side i thought you meant a bit rusty with this dynamic this duo it's been a while it's it's a familiar face on the other side of things it's uh it's taken me back what seven eight years since we lasted tottenham way yeah it must be um i know i know um yeah it's strange to think the Tottenham way continues without us um but less said about that the better we can talk about no no no yeah yeah yeah no we should we should um yeah i i i have very fond memories of the first Tottenham way um recording it in the pub um next to the masons as jack reminded us earlier on whatsapp um was an experience and i kind of like to think i've said this to you before but i like to think we were kind of ahead of the curve and in our own way i don't think i don't like to live with regrets tom um but you know not really realizing that we were onto something good and we should stick we should have stuck at it given that now everyone has a spurs podcast but back then not everyone had a spurs podcast so um It's true, it's true.

4:05Yeah, we were on to something. But yeah, it was good days, the original Tottenham Way.

4:11Tom Foins:What I would say is I think it is a lot easier to make podcasts nowadays. We didn't have virtual studios and fairly sophisticated ways of, you know, jumping on something like this and having audio and video, having audio tracks sent to your inbox straight after, work on the edit straight away. We were face-to-face on every episode back in 2015, 16 and 17, I think, with the seasons that we did. I don't think we did a single virtual episode. I think we were face-to-face every time. We were, as you say, in the pub, my flat, your flat, Sean Walsh's flat, anyone that would have us at any point. So it's definitely a lot easier nowadays.

4:54Tom Foins:But as you say, we shan't live with regrets. There are no regrets to be had. It was a great three years. no the only thing i would say is i wish that we stayed just one more season would have got us the ix game and the champions league run that that's a small regret yeah i blame myself for that i mean no no no i blame you for living in lewisham and myself for being too lazy to cycle to lewisham that was really the crux of why we stopped i think i didn't like cycling down the south circular i mean i lived in stretton to be fair so you know it wasn't far and it wasn't um a huge improvement on lewisham um no offense to anyone he still lives in lewisham we should uh we should cut that bit out it's two foot yeah yeah that'd be fine um right well you know it's it's an honor to uh to have been asked by jack to to stand in just for this episode um for many reasons but probably most notably it's it's the transfer window or end of transfer window special episode um and it's well from i can't think of a more a busier and more kind of extraordinary transfer window that spurs have had aside from probably that bail summer and and to be fair most of that if i remember rightly i mean it's 12 odd years ago now but i feel like a lot of that was centered around the idea of bail staying on top of doing all of that business as well so there was that kind of excitement that went alongside the signing of those seven players um that was the spin right but when you look back in hindsight it's blindingly obvious they were spending the bail money yeah um i i want i wonder to what extent everyone was actually taken in by that i can't remember if if i was i was young and naive so i suspect that i fully thought we were going to manage to keep bail but you look back now and you think it's it couldn't have been more clear that they were spending the bail money and kind of softening the blow for when that deal eventually happened yeah it was it was probably the last time when we were really aggressive in the transfer market and when you consider the state of the club at that point and you know this is pre-stadium pre-potch pre-cane son superstars like that it was all about breaking even at that point so i think it probably to the penny bail's sale fee and and the the prices that we paid for the seven players coming in probably matched up to the exact pound and penny um so yeah maybe in hindsight was but so this time around it's i'd say it was busier i think um vinai van kateshin put something on linkedin about um and this is very linkedin uh some terminology but he was talking about there was over 30 i think he called them transactions with the first team squad which i think vinai is so linkedin is no LinkedIn yeah yeah Mr.

7:48Tom Foins:LinkedIn um and I think what he was getting at there was it was literally like the the the ins the outs loans included so he was it was picking a high number uh a number that he felt was um you know notable to to pick out I think he said it was 30 odds and that does feel quite high and even up till yesterday I think Dane Scarlett was um there was a permanent move for Dane Scarlett on the last couple of days, I think. You're looking at me. Have I got that wrong? I just didn't know about that. I don't, I'm not as universally across minor Spurs transactions to borrow a phrase from Vinay as I used to be.

8:27Maybe I have. He's joined Latin Orient. Permanently, right? Looks like it. I'm glad to be...

8:32Tom Foins:Learned something new at the start of this pod, yeah. Glad to be informing you, the athletics. What's your official title? Deputy News Editor. very happy to be informing you of dave scarves to be fair you know it's uh it's a it's a fairly fairly low interest move um certainly compared to the other business that we've done um dust is starting to settle uh and we're obviously starting to well we have started the season we haven't started in great shape it does sort of feel like we can start to move forward properly and start to bed in these new players, new way of playing, hopefully, and start to look at getting some results out of this.

9:21Tom Foins:So I suppose we're going to go into the individual transfers and talk a bit more about certainly the ones that have been made in the last couple of weeks because they've certainly been the most interesting ones.

9:34Tom Foins:So how do you feel generally about the transfer window? Can you put a number out of 10 against it? or I think we've had this discussion, this sort of discussion before. And I think you're of the opinion that you can't do anything with a transfer window until it's the end of the season or two seasons down the line because nobody can tell what can happen in football. But on paper, what would you put a number next to this transfer window? I mean, I think the first thing I'll say is I don't think there's ever been a transfer window like this. I think the Magnificent Seven just weren't comparable. I mean, none of those were from the Premier League, if I'm not wrong.

10:07and while you could make a case that it may well turn out and it may well be the case that no signing this summer is smarter than say Eriksen was I still think there was no signing even remotely comparable to Tonali who you know is a obviously a hundred million pound player the club's first hundred million pound player but a player who would expect to compete for a place in any team in the world you know if he went to Real Madrid he'd expect to be starting games for them if he went to Arsenal and Man City who were both interested in him he would expect to be starting for them so I suppose they've never made a signing like that they've never had a window like that where they've made more than one signing like that arguably you know you can make a case that Fernandes if not now then pretty soon I think would be competing for a place in any team in the world so it has objectively been a completely new type of window and if you'd listen back to the original Tottenham way the amount of times we probably said on there wouldn't it be great if you know levy changed his ways or or uncle joe opened the checkbook and that that's you know that has happened levy's gone and not joe lewis but his children um are i've opened the checkbook and and started behaving like a big club and started behaving like a big club owned by billionaires um so you know it is a completely new window and i think it would be churlish to to be given all that given the 25 years of longing for enic to behave in this way i think it would be churlish to be kind of too critical of it really equally i don't want to fall into the trap of just saying oh because we're spending now everything's great and aren't they geniuses and aren't we brilliant because i think there are legitimate concerns that we're going to get to i think that's a roundabout way of saying that it feels like a eight to me like i guess um i think the ceiling of the squad has obviously been massively raised um i guess one thing the first couple of games have made me realize was that it's almost like spurs have had to spend 400 million quid just to be a moderately competitive women league squad again i was gonna before the season even kicks off soccer fans are already making predictions who wins the league who qualifies for europe and who's lifting the trophy at season's end on calci america's number one prediction market platform.

12:25You're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. For a limited time, download the CalShe app and use code CUP26 to get$10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I, CalShe. Trade the beautiful game. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshe.com slash regulatory. Hey, Chicago. Class it up with Crocs. You know back to school is coming in fast.

12:59So why wait to find your new fave footwear? Step into a local Crocs store and step into your new look. Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up. It shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest Crocs store today.

13:23Tom Foins:low energy unfocused foggy you might be dehydrated gatorade zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors great tasting hydration no matter where you're going shop now online or at retailers nationwide gatorade hydrates better than water is it in you symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration consult a health care professional if symptoms persist i'll ask you that question how much of this do you think is and how much you think of the money that's been spent and the the higher figures that are involved with those is is an is a correction of probably at least the last four years of underspend and failing to keep up with even the lower end of the premier league you look at the likes of forest and maybe even Newcastle, you could argue.

14:14Tom Foins:But those teams have money now and they spend a lot of money every season. And quite a few times they've outspent Spurs and brought in and bulked up their squad to a point that Spurs clearly, certainly last season, just couldn't compete with and it almost cost us very, very dearly. So how much of it is a correction do you feel? And do you think the same as what's happened this summer needs to happen next summer, season after, season after? or do you think it will sort of simmer down a little bit maybe next summer? Yeah, I do think a huge amount of it was a correction. And it was just obvious that while there may have been a point that Levy's way of running the club was kind of smart and canny and arguably kind of ahead of the curve, you know, that point had long since passed and his way of running the club in this ultra-competitive new Premier League where the middle class can sign world-class players and everyone's got a great manager because all the best managers want to come here.

15:14And some of the clubs, Brentford, Brighton, the other B, Bournemouth, are just incredibly well run. It just kind of became clear, and I think to be fair, Enoch realised this, that his way of running the club was going to get Spurs relegated sooner rather than later. And that nearly happened twice. and I think the only reasons for it didn't get relegated under Postocoglu was that there were three newly promoted teams as the year before who just couldn't compete in the Premier League who just palpably were not able to because it was such a strong league and then last year

15:53Tom Foins:who arguably were a sort of prototype for us losing their best players and just failing to But wait, the Postocoglu year it was three promoted teams Sorry, it's right Yes, sorry, last season Yeah, and then last season Yes, exactly Last season kind of getting lucky that Wolves made such an awful start had they had Rob Edwards for the whole season you could have made a case that they might have been more competitive than us in the league and again and actually Nuno's West Ham fell away didn't they but I think from the time they beat us around January they were far more competitive than us in the league for a long period they were probably averaging two points per game for a while we were averaging about 0.5 or something so kind of got lucky the last few years or um that that we that we are the championship club we didn't go down um and so i think a huge part of the summer was just kind of addressing that and it was just pretty obvious i think that suppose had a squad that couldn't compete in the premier league and then that needed to change and so i think a big part of the summer has been about um addressing that and the strange thing is is in in any pretty much any year gone by even the modern premier league if a club like spurs with any club but particularly a club like spurs you're kind of established member of the big six had spent 400 million you would expect that to immediately catapult them into you know title contention or at least top full contention and i just don't think that's true now because because the floor was so so low yeah um so i I think money accumulated over the last two seasons that we didn't spend it.

17:33Yeah. And so I think we now have to, and I think most people will have already started to get their heads around this after the first couple of games. I do think we were all kind of drawn into the trap. And certainly I was thinking, oh, look at that midfield. Look how much we spent. You know, it's got to be fourth or fifth this year minimum. And I think I said that on view from the lane. And I think probably we're all now thinking actually, you know, if we can sort of consolidate. Yeah, there's the face. if we can consolidate in and you know if we can finish in the top eight then that will be fairly good going in this league I mean I mean equally this is a weird I think this is a kind of a weird opportunity season it does have a slight feel of the Leicester season there's a chance Arsenal just run away with it obviously but there's been so many managerial changes and I think so many teams are kind of unknown quantities there's loads of teams I mean Chelsea Liverpool City even where I just think they could finish second, but equally they could finish eighth, and I wouldn't raise eyebrows with either.

18:33And you could argue that Spurs also kind of fall into that bracket. Like, if it suddenly clicked, then why not finish third if everyone else is inconsistent as well? But I don't know. That feels less likely to me than eighth or ninth.

18:48Tom Foins:Yeah. It was a World Cup summer. It seems like everyone came back undercooked to a point. Except Brentford. except Brentford and unfortunately Arsenal but yeah Europe will kick in for these teams soon and it won't for us so I think there is a common view that by the new year new players have bedded in hopefully hopefully the new approach to injuries and more cautious approach to injuries means that the squad will be fuller and more able to deal with setbacks and you know players can come in and out without too much interruption and maybe the second half of the season will be a real push for us and see us pick up an awful lot of points hopefully and I'd love a conference league finish this season like if we're if we're suggesting getting into Europe is the next aim I think we could walk the conference league and we could do it with some very fun young players I'm not sure I think it's such a mixed blessing the conference league I just think if you're a club the size of Spurs and it was similar for Chelsea not so much Villa because I think they haven't won things but well Villa won the Europa it's Palace wasn't it that won sorry sorry Palace yeah um didn't Villa win the conference league the year before though am I uh mate West Ham won it first didn't they West Ham won it and then too many claret and blue yeah yeah middling clubs playing in these competitions.

20:11And it's maybe

20:12Tom Foins:indicative of your point of maybe really... I mean, I guess the conference, I mean, it's hypothetical, but it'd be great. Spurs need to win stuff. We all know that. So yes, it's winnable. But equally, I just think you're sort of damned if you do because everyone's like, it's not a real trophy. It's crap. And then if you don't win it, it's a stick to beat you with. So I do think when you're kind of a big club, quote unquote, like Spurs, even if you're desperate for silverware, which Spurs still are, I'm not convinced that's a great competition to be in. I think Europa League remains very winnable.

20:46And very achievable. Tom Ornard, from the new Tottenham way, has always made the case that Spurs should try and be the sort of Sevilla of the Premier League and make that their competition. And it's a great competition to win, which I think is a good point. The difficulty now is, obviously, you can't win that if you get in the Champions League. There's no drop-down, so it's much harder to do a Sevilla. and win every year.

21:11Tom Foins:Quite right. I think a lot of podcast minutes has been dedicated to the early signings that we made. So JP Van Hecker, Andy Robertson, Snessy, Dubravka, they all came in fairly early in the window and I would consider them, maybe not Van Hecker, he came in for quite a significant amount of money. I think the other three, Robertson, Snessy, Dubravka, see what sort of game time they get this season, but it's probably not worth going into too much detail on those. But Van Hecker maybe just quickly, a little bit shaky in his first couple of games in the league, certainly against Brentford, didn't look, particularly in the air, we looked very, very vulnerable when the ball was going near him.

21:55Tom Foins:Daniel Levy apparently, allegedly, sent a message to, was it Simon? I love that, I love that. That's so good. Where do you land on Van Hecker? Do you think Levy was allegedly correct in his assessment that we've had our pants pulled down? Or it's probably just too early to say, isn't it? Yeah, I guess Levy was passing comment more on the transfer fee than the quality of the player, I think. It was more that he allegedly, and I'm sure this is his view, even if Simon Jordan might have paraphrased him somewhat. he felt that the fee was too high for a player with one year left in his contract and that Brighton have kind of um just as a slight aside there's this Harry Enfield sketch that I always do to my partner um it's where Harry Enfield is from the old show like Harry Enfield and Chums or whatever where Harry Enfield owns this shop there's obviously like in Dulwich or um like uh Hampstead or something and he just sells crap to just like stupid rich mainly women coming yeah i saw you coming and i was just lydia loves those shops and always gets ripped off with people so i always say oh they saw you coming and i have felt a little bit like um a lot of people have seen enic coming this summer including brighton including man city and so i saw you coming um and i think probably brighton did see spurs coming a bit um with van hecker but equally you know and then this is a point um i think it was james moore made on view from the lane you know we we've complained so much about um previous iteration to spurs not paying what it takes to just get managers players they want and obviously deserve he loves van hecke um is one of the many players i think he calls his one of his footballing sons and and clearly felt that he was you know going to be a really important part of the rebuild especially once romero left and i can understand why because you're losing such a good pass to the ball and Romero and you need someone something to compensate for that so I don't have a huge problem it's not my money um if we suddenly find ourselves as a club falling foul of UEFA rules in the future um or not being able to spend then perhaps we can look back at the summer and start critiquing the transfer fees but for now I'm kind of like yeah I mean I think you mentioned Sean Walsh he's a spiritual third member of the original Tottenham way and Sean's made some really smart points this summer about, I suppose, kind of losing the art of defending in favour of these technical players like Sanessi and Van Hecker and you're losing your Danzos, your Romare's, your Spencer's, who actually liked putting their bodies on the line and making blocks and winning headers and stuff.

24:41I think that's a smart point. I haven't been impressed with Van Hecker defensively yet. I thought on the ball he looked really good against newcastle there were a couple of really good um line spitting passes um you know he plays vertically is that right not horizontal yes yeah yeah yeah he's a good good vertical yes um but he like from the first literally from the first minute of the brentford game someone's showing sharder just get past him and he and drew a foul and i was on shit and so he i remain to be convinced

25:15Tom Foins:in that aspect i think it probably doesn't help that he's starting next to gray as well on that side of the defence and I think a lot has been made of Grey's understandably shoky start to the season when he's once again being played out of position. So yeah, I think judging when he's next to Van der Ven for five games in a row and Porro on the other side of him, I suppose. You mentioned Fernandes. I think it would be really nice to talk about him because we've talked about our very horrible starts of the season, two losses, five goals conceded, no goals scored so far. Not many positives from those first two games but if you were to take out some positives and I appreciate his um only appearance has been Newcastle and Charlton in the League Cup but he looks really good doesn't he Fernandez he looks like he could be the guy that it all revolves around yeah yeah absolutely he looks really good and I've just been so he's just you you watch him you watch Spurs and and already he looks like the player who's kind of above all the rest and this is now a Spurs team with a with a hundred million pound midfielder next to him and I do think Tonali you know will really improve and it's just because he costs 100 million it's not doesn't mean he doesn't need time to settle and all the rest of it but Fernandes yeah the range of his passing I love he looks technically brilliant he looks like he can create a lot more than I thought you know I knew that he was you know just going to be this kind of really energetic technically good boxer box eight but I think he's going to make a lot of goals i think while madison um is kind of uh unfit then him playing as the most advanced in the midfield three lesson makes a lot of sense because i think he can be dangerous near goal i think he's got everything really and i think he is probably capable of being one of the best midfielders in the world in in that role um and i mean no one ever talks about transfer fee when fees on players do well but he's given what we've just seen enzo go for um and and given that most of the big money signings um in world football seem to be in that position then i think actually 75 million could end up looking like quite a good bit of business for him um but yeah that's that's that's piling a load of pressure on a on a guy who didn't even make portugal's world cup squad So he is still young and it is still early days.

27:37But yeah, so impressed so far.

27:40Tom Foins:Is it helped or is he helped maybe by the fact that the guy that has come in alongside him to make it a£200 million midfield, Sandro Tonali, he feels more of the statement signing. It's more of a in price and also in the fact that we've taken him from a more direct rival in the certainly in the last couple of seasons than we would have considered previously in Newcastle. and the fact that he's come in and I think it's understandable to not set the world alight when you first join the club and as we said it's not his fault um no players fault but it's their transfer fee but the whole fitness issue that really sticks in the throat a little bit in he's had no world cup he joined in the early july he was training fairly early I know there was a I think there was some work permit or something there was some sort of issue that delayed it a couple of days but nothing more than that it feels like it deserves he's quite willing to just openly say the guy is not fit and we're getting him up to speed that is that not a bit odd and should we not be a little bit concerned if not a bit pissed off hey chicago class it up with crocs you know back to school is coming in fast so why wait to find your new fave footwear Step into a local croc store and step into your new look.

29:00Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up. It shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest croc store today.

29:16Tom Foins:Low energy? Unfocused? Foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero Powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. Now at Lowe's. Faster quotes. Start at the Lowe's Pro Desk. Got a material list handwritten on a sticky note or saved us a photo?

29:55Perfect. Bring it to us and get a quote in minutes. And if you don't see what you need on the shelf, we'll help you get it. You can access thousands of products beyond what's available in-store or on lowes.com right from the Lowes Pro Desk. Build quotes faster and source the materials you need to keep your jobs moving. Just like that at Lowes. Yeah, possibly. I think... A point I think I saw Rory Smith make on... social media this week that the kind of higher the transfer fee the less patience people have with players and i you know i totally get why when your club's spending 100 million pounds you really expect someone to come in just immediately hit the ground running and improve the team um but you know kind of every signing even if they're coming from the premier league even if they're really expensive, needs a period of adjustment.

30:52I guess the fitness issue is a different one. And yeah, you're right. It just does feel like he just doesn't have any excuses, right? He hasn't had an international tournament. He hasn't missed chunks of pre-season. But I can't pull my hair out too much over it. I think to your point you made earlier, Yeah, you always judge a transfer window kind of retrospectively. You have to. And then this one particularly because I guess because of, I suppose I've made some calculated gambles, like letting Spence and Voscovic go. And, you know, if Spence carries on improving at the rate he's been improving for the last two years, that will look like a very bad sale.

31:33And if Voscovic fulfills his potential, that will look like a very bad sale. Equally, if they level off, then they'll look really canny. And then these just are things we just can't know until the future. and likewise with how successful Tonali is going to be. My hunch or my sort of gut is that Tonali was kind of Deserbi's guy. If it felt like the guy, Deserbi was texting him all summer, I feel like he's sort of Deserbi's gift. You've got all the power, you kept us up, here's your£100 million player. Whereas Fernandes feels a bit more like, even though I think he's going to be hugely important to the way De Zerbi wants to play more of a kind of this is the guy we as a club want yeah one sort of thought I have had is like again it speaks to the point about windows being judged retrospectively but everyone this time last year was like Liverpool are going to walk the Premier League and they've just had the best transfer window ever and now you look back and you think actually they didn't need Izac and Eketike they needed Gay and possibly another defender.

32:41And I do slightly wonder, like, did we need Fernandes and Tonali this summer? Or was it like one of them and make do with Gallagher or Benticor or whoever and get a proper centre-forward or winger? If, you know, it was a lot of money to spend on basically one position, obviously.

33:06Tom Foins:Lack of strikers I think was a big issue this summer as well Lack of strikers on the market Yeah, that's what I mean And maybe that ties into the later business that we did I think a lot has been said about Savio and Marmouche I'm conscious of time And I think there's some more interesting ones that we could talk about And in fact we may as well move on to those now Everything that we've said so far All the concerns that we had Some of that is tinged with, as we've mentioned The poor start to the season If on paper we, I think, were all very, very happy that Enoch were finally spending the money, we were backing the manager, we've got a good manager who kept us up and we fulfilled our promise to him that we would back him.

33:48Tom Foins:And we did it really early and then there was this gap. It just felt like this really, really long gap. We were almost paying for being so efficient in the early part of the summer when it took slightly longer to get Savio. It felt like it took forever to get Savio across the line and the money kept creeping up and up. Marmouche sort of came out of nowhere and I think that's an exciting one. I do sort of feel with Savio and Marmouche that we might only really see the benefit of those when everybody is up to speed. They don't feel like the types that are going to drag us up to the line. I feel like they're going to be the guys that supplement us really, really well when we're up to speed and hopefully flying in the league and consistent and picking up points, etc.

34:33Tom Foins:I feel like that's when they will come into their own. But the last few days, where did Mudrick come from? Is it just as simple as De Zerbi had him at Shakhtar, where he was a very explosive, really exciting young winger in Europe, and he's available? Is that it? Do you have any sort of excitement for this in thinking this could be a real left field stab in the dark, give it a go, see what happens. This could work out brilliantly. Or are you feeling like me where you feel like even the best possible outcome of this is a half decent winger maybe getting a few numbers and then either being trotted back to Chelsea or Spurs spend 70-odd million on him in the summer.