Summer Transfer Window Euro Edition: France's Yohan Cabaye



Will Yohan Cabye stay at Newcastle?

Yohan Cabaye is one of the most underrated players in the world right now as the Newcastle Unitedand French midfielder has become one of the top central midfielders playing in the English Premier League. Cabaye knows how to set his strikers to score but he also is a fairly good finisher himself. Newcastle United will not let him leave for less then what they want but Newcastle might not be able to keep him. So, where will Cabaye end up?

Stay at Newcastle
Newcastle United got him for a steal last summer from Lille and they definitely should not allow him to leave for a small fee. Also, keeping Cabaye and turning down big offers will show the fans that Mike Ashley is ready to take Newcastle back to the UEFA Champions League. Cabaye also will want some career stability now that he is a regular in the French starting XI as he is also receiving plenty of playing time at Newcastle. Cabaye konws that he does not have to move right now and a stay at Newcastle would not be a surprise.

Manchester United
Manchester United are looking for a midfield maestro and espite the fact that they are bringing in Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund, United could very still be in the market for another central midfielder as they have ruored with Luka Modric. Cabaye could be a less expensive, quality alternative to Modric as Cabaye has shown his playmaing ability to set up strikers Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse during the Premier League season. United are still looking for a proven Premier League center midfielder and Cabaye could very well be the right player for United.

Tottenham
After firing manager Harry Redknapp, star central midfielder Luka Modric has been linked with a move away from White Hart Lane as he looks to play in the Champions League. With a move likely, Tottenham needs to find a replacement for Modric as Yohan Cabaye would be the perfect choice. Cabaye could be hat central midfield maestro just like Modric and would be a good fit beside England's Scott Parker. Cabaye could also play where Rafael Van der Vaart is in Tottenham's 4-4-1-1 as Cabaye knows how to score and has a very similar style compared to Van der Vaart. Cabaye could end up at Tottenham if Spurs lose Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart, or both.

Liverpool
Liverpool needs some help in the midfield as they need central midfielders that know how to control the ball and pass it up to the strikers at the right moments. Yohan Cabaye is the exact fit that could play in the central midfield of Brendan Rodgers' system as he looks to take Liverpool back to the Champions League next season. Cabaye also is a proven goal scorer from the midfield and could be the long term replacement for Steven Gerrard as Gerrard and Cabaye would give Liverpool two dangerous midfielders who can score goals or dish it to Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. Cabaye would be a good fit at Anfield but Rodgers seems more interested in signing Icelandic  midfielder Gylfi Sigurðsson since he has had success in Rodgers's system previously.

Summer Transfer Window Euro Edition: France's Olivier Giroud

Olivier Giroud had a breakout year for Montpellier as he helped lead them to the title in the French Ligue 1 while also earning himself a role in the French national team as he is preparing for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Giroud scored 21 goals for Montpellier this season and with a release fee of 12.8 million euros (16.1 million dollars), he will be a bargain for a lot of top tier sides. So, who will be going after the French international.

Arsenal
Even though they signed Lukas Podolski and have Robin van Persie, Arsene Wenger is looking at Giroud as he looks to possibly offer Marouane Chemakh in a deal for Giroud. Giroud would Wenger another dangerous goal scorer as that would be a huge improvement at striking depth compared to this year. Arsenal can also give him the guarentee of being in the Champions League just like Montpellier which could be key in trying to sign him. Arsenal is definitely going to try to sign Giroud as they certainly will have an excellent chance.

Tottenham
Tottenham need some new strikers as Giroud could be the backup plan if they are unable to keep loan wonder Emanuel Adebayor. However, Giroud would be able to be potentially as good as Adebayor as he knows how to score goals and is a true number nine. Giroud could be that true striker that could help lead Tottenham back to the Champions League after they just barely missed out on next year's Champions League due to Chelsea victory in this year's final over Bayern Munich. Giroud might have to battle Jermaine Defoe for the starting spot but Giroud could be a very good upgrade at White Hart Lane.

Malaga
Cash-rich Malaga are looking to find a replacement for the recently retired Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Giroud is their number one target after his dominant season in Ligue 1. Giroud would be the perfect fit beside striker Salomon Rondon as that would give Malaga a prlific pair of starting strikers before the new La Liga season starts and it would also help them out as they prepare for the Champions League. Giroud could end up at Malaga but a move to the Premier League still seems more likely.

QPR
QPR have been linked with a move for Giroud as Mark Hughes is looking for a proven goal scorer in their attempt to avoid a relegation battle. Bobby Zamora has been fairly good but Giroud would definitely be an upgrade for the Loftus Road club. Giroud would definitely be a starter for QPR as owner Tony Fernandes would love to have a star like Giroud. However, QPR are not that big of a club and a successful move for Giroud would be a major surprise.

Summer Transfer Window: Grant Holt

Grant Holt could be the next to leave Carrow Road

It has beena rough start to the offseason for Norwich City as they have already lost their manager Paul Lambert to Aston Villa and there could be more players still to leave. Grant Holt wants to leave Norwich City since Lambert is gone but Norwich is trying to do everything they can to keep him. However, Norwich City will not be able to keep Holt as he will be headed for a bigger Premier League club. Holt will have tons of options after he scored 15 goals in the Premier League last season as so many teams could use an upgrade. So, where will Holt be headed in this transfer window?

Aston Villa
Paul Lambert will definitely look to bring his star striker to Villa Park as Holt knows exactly what to expect from Lambert. A move for Holt would give the Villa fans a dangerous pair of strikers in Darren Bent and Holt, but this would force Lambert to move Gabriel Agbonlahor to left or right midfield as Agbonlahor has that versatility. Holt and Bent coulod become one of the most dangerous attacking duos in the Premier League as they could provide Aston Villa with tons of goals. A Holt move to Villa Park is realistic but Norwich could block Lambert from buying Norwich players for a year, just like how Swansea has blocked Brendan Rodgers from bringing Swansea players to Liverpool after Rodgers left for Anfield.

Sunderland
Martin O'Neill has been looking to find an elite striker as Stephane Sessegnon is not a natural striker and is more of a central forward that can play behind a true number nine in a 4-4-1-1. Holt would be that perfect striker for O'Neill as he is a proven scorer that can be got at a fairly cheap price (5 to 7 million euros or 6 to 8.5 million dollars). Holt would be that dominant scorer that could fit perfectly in Martin O'Neill's side as Holt and Sessegnon could help make Sunderland a long shot to contend for a shot to play in Europe. O'Neill will definitely look at bringing Holt to the Stadium of Light.

West Ham
West Ham have been considering a move for Grant Holt as he would be an immediate starter beside Carlton Cole for the Hammers. Sam Allardyce would love to add a veteran prescence like Holt to his squad and he could make a double swoop for Holt and goalkeeper John Ruddy as Allardyce is looking for a replacement for Malaga target Robert Green. Holt would be an effective player at Upton Park as he could definitely help Allardyce keep West Ham in the Premier League next season.

Reading
Reading has just made its return to the Premier League as Reading is now owned by a Russian billionaire as he will want to have tons of success in the Premier League. Reading manager Brian Mcdermott needs an upgrade at striker and Holt would be the perfect fit as they look to survive in the Premier Leauge. Holt would be the elite goal scorer that Reading has been needing as he could be a star for a Reading team that could have a large amount of money to spend in this transfer window.

Fulham
Martin Jol may need to look for some new strikers as Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele a\have been linked with moves away from Craven Cottage, and true strikers Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andy Johnson are available on free transfers. Holt could be one of multiple strikers to go to Fulham as Martin Jol look for a dominant striker. Holt could get regular time at Fulham as he could be the proven goal scorer that they only just recently found in Pogrebnyak. Holt is a perfect fit at Craven Cottage as a move for Holt is very realistic this transfer window.

Tottenham
The chance that Holt goes to Tottenham is very slim but a Spurs for move the Englishman makes tons of sense as Spurs have only one true striker right now in Jermaine Defoe as they may not be able to afford to keep loan wonder Emmanuel Adebayor and Louis Saha is without a contract. Holt would be the perfect fit as he is a proven goalscroer that would be willing to battle Defoe for a starting spot since Tottenham is playing in Europe. Holt knows that playing at White Hart Lane can give him the best shot at making Englnad's roster for the 2014 World Cup as Holt would definitely take a move to Tottenham if offered the opportunity.

Premier League Final Day

This is it, the Barclays Premier League will be decided tomorrow as there are so many battles from the Manchester battle to be champion to the three-way battle to be in the Champions League to the two teams fighting for one spot in the Premier League. So, what will happen Sunday.

The battle for the Champions League spots.
There are three teams battling for a guaranteed Champions League spot and a qualifying stage Champions League spot that could go to Chelsea as a guarantee if the Stamford Bridge club wins the Champions League. Arsenal is in third one point ahead of Tottenham and two ahead of Newcastle as Arsenal only has to win to keep third and be in next year's Champions League. Arsenal has a tough trip to West Brom as Roy Hodgsen's side will look to send Hodgsen out on a high note with a win. Robin van Persie will look to have a big game to carry Arsenal to the Champions League as I think Arsenal wins 2 to 1 thanks to a RVP double. Tottenham needs to win to keep at least fourth and they can claim third if they win and Arsenal doesn't. Tottenham hosts a Clint Dempsey-less Fulham side and I think Tottenham will cruise to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Gareth Bale, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Jermaine Defoe. Newcastle needs a win and a loss from Arsenal and a draw/loss from Tottenham to take third but they face a difficult trip to Goodison Park to take on Marouane Fellaini and Everton. This should be an excellent match that should be a high scoring thriller as I see Newcastle winning it at the end 3 to 2 thanks to goals from Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse who will get the winner. All three of these teams have had godd seasons but the finish will be in this order: Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle.

Who wins the Premier League and who gets relegated.
Because of the overlap between Manchester City looking to win the Premier League while QPR is looking to stay up, we have combined both the title battle and the survival battle. Bolton has to take on Stoke City as the only they will survive is if they win and QPR loses. However, I think Stoke City and Bolton will end up with a 1-1 draw and Owen Coyle's side will be sent down to the Championship joining Blackburn and Wolverhampton. So, who will win the title?
Manchester United has to win and have Manchester City to lose/draw or United can get a draw and have City lose as those are the only two ways they can win the Premier League. United has a tough trip to take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light as United will do everything they can to win but United will win 3-1 to get the big three points they need to have a shot. Manchester City has an interesting matchup as they hosts survival hopefuls QPR. Both teams have something they want and City will look to win their first league title in 43 years. This should be an exciting game as City will get an early goal from Sergio Aguero before David Silva puts away a second goal to seal the game and the title while QPR will stay up due to the draw by Bolton at the Britannia Stadium.
The blue half of Manchester will be celebrating this year as City will hold off United while QPR will survive in the Premier League with Bolton going down to the Championship.

The Cockerel has landed

Tottenham Hotspur have released an artist's impression of their desired new 60,000-seat home on the site of London's Olympic Stadium.

After it was initially thought Spurs were merely seeking leverage to persuade Haringey Council to approve their White Hart Lane redevelopment, the picture leaves no doubt that Stratford is their intended destination in 2012.

Chairman Daniel Levy is talking of East London as their one and only option right now as the postponed decision on the preferred bidder is due within a week.

West Ham have the support of most of the athletics community, including the IOC and 2012 chief Sebastian Coe, as well as the majority of Londoners polled, but Spurs' greater financial clout seems to be edging ahead as the Legacy Committee pore over the economic promises. The call for more time to decide must be ominous for the Hammers - on paper they should have been crowned winners already because unlike Tottenham they had pledged to retain the running track.

While West Ham's Vice Chairman Karren Brady invokes the Queen's name and speaks of a "corporate crime" should Spurs triumph, she is equally aware that Spurs have stolen a march on the issue of athletics legacy: They are promising to develop Crystal Palace athletics stadium into a 25,000-seater open all year when West Ham will only leave the larger Olympic Stadium open for track and field for 20 days.

It is impossible to miss the Canary Wharf skyline lurking strategically above the stadium in the artist's impression, a symbol of the big money Tottenham are hoping will carry them across the finish line.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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Olympic stadium a fight for soccer's soul...?

Football and the Olympics does matter after all.

By the end of this week either Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United will be in pole position to take over London's Olympic Stadium once the flame goes out on the 12th of August 2012. The battle for Stratford has turned into a fire-fight between two capital clubs with all manner of voices wading in, from politicians to Pelé.

But whichever club wins the right to move house next year, the decision will also record for posterity just what is driving the soul of British sport at this moment. It is price versus value and by the end we will see just how much money can buy.

Olympic stadia are beautiful, but what is to be done with them once the party is over? Athletics just does not pay, however popular it will appear for a month at the games. Next year, the track events will as ever be the blue riband of the games, sports amateur in tradition if not in practice anymore. Although Baron de Coubertin's Corinthian ideals may now be a quaint memory, the fact Britain does not possess a single venue able to host a major track championship is painful proof of just how far athletics lags behind the professional team sports in money-making.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the UK team finished fourth in the medals table, beaten only by superpowers China, Russia and the United States, yet a closer inspection reveals only four of Britain's 47 medals were won inside the main arena. The velodrome by contrast yielded sixteen. The 2012 stadium cost the British taxpayer half a billion pounds and the odd athletics meet alone will not pay for its future upkeep. Enter football, riding to the rescue.

Tottenham are thriving on this financial uncertainty, and are wielding the buying power of their fans - 36,000 season-ticket holders and 40,000 on a waiting list, as their battering ram on the doors of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the body who will pick the winner. Sold out Spurs matches and the rest of the site under the aegis of AEG, who transformed the Millennium Dome from a ridiculed white elephant into the hugely successful O2 Arena, can surely reduce the tax bill faster than West Ham can and reassure the anxious politicians in this age of austerity.

And if there were any doubt about which tenant would be the more lucrative, Spurs' Champions League adventure this season stands in sharp contrast to the Hammers' relegation fight. Both clubs are ogling a new stadium for free and the proceeds from auctioning off their own real estate, although the Hammers need the money more.

West Ham are playing what they know are less tangible but more respectable cards - those of trust, altruism and tribalism: They are hoping the promise of an athletics legacy for the nation at the time of bidding is an oath of honour, that the OPLC will feel that track and field, however unprofitable, deserves at least one big arena when football already has so many, and the fact that the locality is far more claret and blue than white and navy territory.

A club crossing town after a century in Haringey does go against the natural order of the sport, whose roots lie in brawls between medieval parishes, but the game has come a long way since those Shrovetide tussles. In only the last ten years the Premier League has metamorphosed into an international division based in England while London, an economic hot-spot conveniently located halfway between the financial hotspots of Asia and East Coast America, has also been transformed by a globalised influx which has left its old face a folktale.

Franchise moves are common in American sports where many areas of population lack professional sports teams but less so in England, where a wealthy investor need only pluck a struggling club and whisk it through the divisions towards the big time.

The Olympic environs are virgin territory anyway, as is much of East London's growth corridor and the monied business district of Canary Wharf, whose cityscape resembles North America, not England. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy sees relocation as part of a bigger picture for this part of the capital and doubtless salivates over the shining new transport links to Stratford while his club's fans struggle to reach White Hart Lane, a nice ground in an otherwise grotty urban neighbourhood.

And Spurs fans mostly do not come from Tottenham these days, any more than West Ham's hail from the Bangladeshi area around Upton Park, so talk of tribal land rights can sound odd in the mobile London of 2011.

West Ham have the moral case if there is one, based on the promises London's bidding team used to convince the International Olympic Committee to pick them ahead of Paris in the first place. The IOC and world athletics' governing body have rushed to their aid in the final days of the campaign.

The IAAF chief Lamine Diack did not mince his words, speaking of London's "big lie" were it to choose Spurs, adding for good measure,

"And after that it is a betrayal...You can consider yourself dead. You are finished."

Sebastian Coe, the public face of London 2012 was unambiguous: "We have a moral obligation."

Tottenham have brushed aside claims they are arrogantly ignoring Olympic promises by pledging instead to redevelop Crystal Palace athletics stadium to 25,000, the initial planned capacity of the Olympic stadium after the games. With the hours counting down until D-Day, Spurs wheeled out Pelé, Jimmy Greaves and their coach Harry Redknapp to stress how football and athletics do not mix happily in the same arena, a fact which is hard to deny. But West Ham landed a counter-punch from an unlikely angle.

Out of the blue last week, Crystal Palace F.C. announced they intend to develop the nearby athletics venue into a new football stadium, returning to their ancestral home where they started in 1905. The Eagles' territorial claim on that site is pre-eminent, their financial backing as yet invisible. Palace could yet even strike a deal with Spurs and end up with views across an eight-lane running track.

Sliding stands as in the Stade de France would have solved the sight lines problem, but the Olympics were won in the heady days of New Labour's noughties boom before the spectre of financial crash appeared around construction time. The discount re-design which emerged after recalculations neatly encapsulated the new age of western austerity after Beijing's tour-de-force 'Birds Nest' of 2008.

What once seemed like a shoe-in for Leyton Orient, the closest club to the Olympics site, has now become a spat between two Premier League sides that is starting to turn ugly. A gazumping by Spurs would deal a near-fatal blow to Britain's hopes of ever hosting a major athletics tournament again, whilst confirming the great god of football rules unchallenged, making up the rules as he goes along.

But while the rising anger from the athletics world at Tottenham's interloping could swing it for West Ham, the race for gold and silver still looks too tight to call.

The Hammers have a more wholesome claim, which chimes with the Olympic spirit in which the stadium was created in the first place, but let us not be fooled. It is purely money, or the lack of it in their instance, which motivates any football club to subject its supporters to a dreaded running track.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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The Tottenham tempest hits town

Tottenham Hotspur are riding some wave. A point off the top four in England, the Londoners have set the UEFA Champions League on fire in their inaugural season on the biggest stage, playing some dazzling attacking football. And after years of its fans craving glory the club is swiftly having to adjust to its new-found success.

A novice in the continent's top class, North London's other giant has qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League in 2011, and currently sits atop of a group containing reigning champions Internazionale, whom they swatted aside 3-1 at White Hart Lane.

Spurs also downed Werder Bremen 3-0 and Twente Enschede 4-1 at home, drew 2-2 away in Germany and netted three at San Siro, despite going down 4-3 to Inter in the end. While their domestic form is struggling to keep up, Tottenham are poised to break into the Champions League places again and their supporters are still wallowing from their most prized scalp - a 3-2 win at neighbours Arsenal. The immediate plaudits for this unexpectedly sterling season must go to mercurial manager Harry Redknapp.

The son of an East End docker, Redknapp might have a questionable record in the transfer market and speak like a cockney gaffer plucked via a time warp from the 1970s, but he has proved more than capable of drawing the best out of cultured continentals such as Luka Modric, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Rafael Van der Vaart. In addition he has proved to Fabio Capello how Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon, bit-part players in the national team, can be employed to devastating effect.

A club renowned for favouring style over substance, Spurs' expansive football has been a joy to behold his season, and more than a few beady eyes have been cast in the direction of their Welsh wing wizard Gareth Bale, whose left-sided marauding cut Javier Zanetti and the rest of Inter's seasoned backline to shreds. Starting at left-back, Bale bagged a hat-trick in Italy with near-identical charges up the flank followed by finishes driven into the far corner, a firework display that had the whole Italian press cooing with admiration and relieved at Inter having scored enough to win.

A rich blend of diverse talents and an attack-minded manager has brewed up a Tottenham tipple that has forced the UEFA powers-that-be to take notice. Bale's power surges on the left are complemented by Lennon's waggle-dancing on the right flank; Defoe's sprints and clinical finishes up the middle are mixed with Crouch's air superiority and Pavlyuchenko's clever runs and deadly ground strokes. With a strong back four marshalled by French veteran William Gallas in order to shield an at-times erratic goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, the strings are pulled in the centre by the underrated Cameroon international Benoit Assou-Ekotto, the assured Jermaine Jenas, a classy distributor whom England will surely turn to again, while the ensemble is completed by the maestro in the middle, the Croatian conductor Modric.

The addition of a Dutch master at the end of the transfer window might have upset the balance, but Van der Vaart has landed with aplomb, scoring and creating in a free role, with only the high-octane pace of an attritional North London derby a game too far for him.

We should not begudge Tottenham their place in the sun as their trophy cabinet has a cobweb or two. Considered along with Everton one of the 'Big Five' in the 1980s, their last big trophy was 1984's UEFA Cup, while you have to go as far back as 1961 for the last time Spurs were champions of England. After years of suffering as the nearly men, Redknapp's remedy is working a treat.

In his apparently simple tactical plan and motivational instincts there is even something of the Brian Clough about him, although do not be fooled by the bravado: Redknapp drives from Dorset to North London every day with assistant coach Kevin Bond beside him, discussing in depth their tactical options.

Redknapp is one of the last of the truly English managers, breezily bypassing foreign additives in his recipe book: Tottenham pioneered the use of a Director of Football in England in 1998 with David Pleat but Redknapp eschews such continental sophistication, taking the word 'manager' he grew up with literally - he is the man who runs the club at the end of the day. And with the exception of the former Scotland striker Joe Jordan, the entire coaching staff is English, at a time when 15 of the 20 Premier League coaches come from outside England and seven from beyond the British Isles.

If Spurs have an Achilles heel it is surely in their inexperience. Their open and attacking style could well be found out by the stronger, wiser teams to be found in the knock-out stages, clubs battle-hardened by the yearly Champions League competition Spurs have yet to know intimately.

The warning signs are there: After only 20 minutes of play in their top-level European exodus, Spurs found themselves trailing Young Boys 3-0 in Berne, before pulling two back in Switzerland and thrashing them 4-0 in the return leg. Ditto in Italy, where Inter sailed into a 4-0 advantage over Spurs with only 35 minutes gone, slicing the Londoners' defence open from all angles in a footballing bloodbath, leaving Tottenham looking desperately out of their depth before Bale pulled the trigger and fired in three goals.

A quick glance at the company they will be keeping in the last sixteen should make them draw breath - Bayern, Inter, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea have all made it through along with tricky customers like Lyon, Schalke and Valencia. In other words, we will surely find out what Spurs are made of before long.

The metamorphosis from a bridesmaid club has been so rapid and heady the fans will be wondering if it can last. And two possible obstacles are already visible on the horizon - the loss of Redknapp to the England job in 2012 and a move to a new stadium.

Redknapp has been explicit about his desire for the top job in English football, and with Capello's Three Lions mumbling rather than roaring, the Londoner is surely next up for the impossible job, if, as expected, the Italian's megabucks contract is not renewed after the European Championship in Poland & Ukraine. The Football Association have already said they will hire English next time, which presumably means a choice between Redknapp and Roy Hodgson. When Redknapp left Portsmouth and West Ham in recent seasons, both clubs ended up relegated within a couple of years, an omen for Tottenham with only a year and a half to go until the England job is up for grabs again.

The other upheaval on the cards concerns a move away from White Hart Lane - home to the club since 1899. The Lane has a double problem - its famous inaccessibility and relatively low capacity.

In a city blessed with the world's largest underground railway and a vast network of train and bus services, Spurs' stadium for some reason remains frustratingly hard to reach. The closest London Underground station is a good half hour's walk while the Toytown trains arriving intermittently at Tottenham Hale are a wholly inadequate service for a large arena.

36,000 seats also puts Spurs at a financial disadvantage compared to Manchester City (48,000), Arsenal (60,000) and Man Utd (76,000), a stunted revenue stream year after year.

Expansion to 56,000 seats on the existing site entails demolishing a slew of nearby buildings and planning permission for a multi-use shopping, hotel and sporting complex. Planning permission has been granted by the local council and the Mayor of London, leaving a refusal by the Secretary of State the last possible hurdle.

Yet Spurs have also applied to take over the Olympic Stadium across town in Stratford after the games finish in 2012, placing them in direct competition with the more local West Ham United and with British Athletics, whose demand for a running track would also conflict with Spurs' plans. What at first seemed to be an obvious leverage tactic to force Haringey Council's hand now appears a frightening possibility for die-hards, who are aghast at the prospect of Tottenham leaving their home patch. Spurs have AEG's millions on board, as well as the potential backing of billionaire Joe Lewis. In addition, London 2012's vice-chairman is a club director. In March 2011 we will know for sure, but within a month more will be clear.

Although the Haringey option appears the better of the two, Chairman Daniel Levy is believed to be genuinely excited about his club moving for free into an iconic stadium, which unlike White Hart Lane will have excellent transport links and proximity to the financial hub of Canary Wharf and London's expanding eastern corridor. The spruce surroundings of the Olympic Park are a world away from Tottenham High Road, one of the most impoverished and unappealing parts of London.

Whatever happens on and off the field, the next two years will surely be some of the most historic in the history of this 138 year-old team, and certainly the most exciting for decades.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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