Shannon sent us the following:
Managers of the "big" clubs are deciding to have their say on Spurs. A week ago Jose Mourinho said something about our "zero pounds" expenditure. Whether it was intended as a sly backhander only Mourinho will know. There's no reason for any of us to give a damn.
But this week's attack by Chelsea's Antonio Conte - and make no mistake, it was an attack - on what he called our lack of expectations and ambition - as evidenced by our lack of spending - was extraordinary. Conte is a passionate man. One can tell he is by his wild simian antics on the touchline at every Chelsea match. But he is also a solid thinker and speaker about football.
I enjoy his honest, considered and thoughtful post-match interviews. And one has to ask whether he does not make a valid point or two in his broadside against us. For example, he says if you want to improve your side you have to buy expensive players.
Let's give the unrestrained Italian-speaker the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant good players rather than just expensive players. At Chelsea the two things are often confused. What Conte doesn't address is the quality that might be coming from the Spurs youth academy - at the same time that he admits that Harry Kane, an academy graduate, is a great striker.
Just perhaps the Spurs leadership have spotted something else there.
Also, there is the undoubted benefit of having a young, hungry squad of players playing together for a few years, as Spurs have, honing their skills and increasing their desire for success. Not to mention one of the brightest young managers in the world, someone who it seems can actually coach and not simply spend.
Some Chelsea supporters have suggested that Conte might have taken exception to what the "hypocritical" Daniel Levy said in a recent interview about unsustainability of spending in the Premier League this season. I read that interview too.
I agreed with many things Mr Levy said, and I found absolutely nothing offensive to anyone in any of his statements. The fact that Spurs' lack of spending in this transfer market is such important news speaks volumes about the herd mentality of the "big" clubs. They spend out of fear because they believe their rivals are going to get ahead of them.
We're simply marching to the beat of our own drummer and they don't get it. I have only one question for Conte: Why not worry about your own bloody club?
