Gary Taylor sent us the following:
Having watched every Tottenham game this season I have to say that I've been increasingly frustrated by comments made by many Spurs supporters, whether it be on social media or in the pubs, terraces or Radio phone-ins when it comes to our summer signings. Common consensus is that Wanyama has been an excellent addition, but I've been disappointed by some fans attitudes towards Janssen and Sissoko. Janssen is a youngster finding his way in a different league, I remember the criticism given to Gareth Bale for nearly two seasons as he found his feet in this league, Janssen was bought as a back-up Striker to Harry Kane so we were never going to get a finished article happy to play second fiddle.
However, my deepest frustration lies in the majority of fans attitude towards Mousa Sissoko. Firstly what we know about the Frenchman is that last season he underperformed in a Newcastle side in which the team as a whole underperformed. It was clear that he was very unhappy at the club, he made this public and the fans really wanted to see him gone as much as he wanted to leave. However playing for France in the Euros, he excelled and was one of the stars of the competition. The question for most was who is the real Sissoko? The player that Newcastle fans expected to see at the beginning of last season and the player that looked so dangerous in the Euros? Or the guy who underperformed in four out of five Newcastle games last season? This was probably the question Daniel Levy had on his mind when Mike Ashley alerted him that he wanted shot of the midfielder on deadline day in the summer.
My main frustration with the majority of Spurs fans that have been denigrating Sissoko on social media, is that their main complaint is that he's been poor/terrible/rubbish etc. But, always with the mention of £30 million pounds in their comments. It seems incredible that not only the majority of Spurs fans but the majority of radio, press journalists and commentators seem to have missed, that just days after Sissoko was announced as a £30m deadline day signing, the full details of the deal were released. It was then clear to see that what Levy shrewdly did, was to purchase Sissoko for £6m a season. That is not £30 in five instalments, but quite literally £6m for every season that he stays at the club.
As always the devil is in the detail and rather than tossing out comments on talk radio like "is Sissoko really worth £30m?" these journalists and pundits should really be trying to get to the facts of the deal. What happens if after one season Spurs sell Sissoko to a club such as PSG or Monaco for £15m? Do they make a clear profit of £9m, or do Newcastle take some or all of the profit? What is looking increasingly possible is that Spurs could buy Wilfred Zaha from Palace (Pochettino's original August target) as our attacking wide-sided player and swap Sissoko - still admired by Ronald Koeman - for Ross Barkley, a player much admired by Pochettino, yet reported from certain section of the media as a player that the Dutchman has become increasingly frustrated with. Where would Newcastle stand if the deal was a straight swap? Would result in Tottenham effectively getting the Everton youngster for just £6m?
Personally, I feel that most fans have jumped to judge Sissoko way too early, he arrived without having a pre-season and was clearly not fully fit. What Poch did was to tell Sissoko that he wasn't up to the standard to get into the team, something that he has done to several players in the past. Whilst players such as Lennon, N'jie and Benteleb it was a crushing blow to which they never recovered, others such as Rose, Walker and Dembele used it as the kick-up the backside that has driven them to excel ahead of players brought to the club as their potential replacements.
With Sissoko the jury is out, but during the Burnley game we saw flashes of what he can produce. During the Southampton game he was outstanding, being our only midfielder to always look for the forward pass rather than the lateral, switching wings to set-up our opening goal, putting through Ali for the penalty and setting up several chances that were fritted away by some of our more established players. An on-form Sissoko is incredibly strong on the ball and always looking to drive forward at any opportunity. Time will tell if his match fitness and new found confidence will propel him to be a first choice in the team, but all I ask is that as fans we give him time and stop calling him or judging him as a £30m player. He will only cost that if he stays with us for 5 years and if he does, then he will have earned the price tag the Thirty Million pound man.
