Spurs spending spree - We should be so lucky

I recall the summers of 1988 and 2004 as a Spurs fan, because they were notable for being those with major spending sprees.

In 1988 I was only a year into supporting Spurs and while we had waved goodbye to Waddle, Hoddle and Gough, we welcomed Paul Stewart and most notably Paul Gascoigne into the team.

In 2004, in a team led by new manager Jacques Santini, assistant Martin Jol and sporting director Frank Arnesen, we made a huge number of signings including left back Erik Edman, left winger Reto Ziegler, central midfielder Timothee Atouba and centre back Nourridene Naybet. The latter was the most notable as he filled the position in the centre and taught Ledley King all he knew (his words).

Now we can mark summer 2013 into that list too, with seven new names in the squad. Not major world stars (yet) admittedly, but the price tags of Soldado, Paulinho, Lambela, Erikson, Chadli, Caboue and Chiriches (thanks for nicking my original headline Spurs Show btw) show that the management mean business.

Yes we have had to say goodbye to a world class player and some other loyal players to afford them, and analysis has showed that despite being the Premier League's top spenders this summer, we have actually ended up in credit by around £2 million.

As they arrived it was rather unbelievable to see the transfer record broken three times, especially on Friday August 31st when three players all signed on the same day.

How these new players fit together with the existing team is a bit of a mystery not only to us fans, but also to the players themselves I expect. I write this 48 hours after Spurs lost the north London derby 1-0 and at times, looked like strangers.

With no opportunity for a pre-season together, this may take time to figure out and it is a harsh comment, but 24 hours after we saw last season's first choice left back and our most promising youth player loaned to QPR, this team may look a lot different come the end of the season as formations and combinations are sorted out.

However there is no doom and gloom, as this is exactly what we have been calling for as we have a new striker, midfielders who can score and a viable central midfield. With an international break now upon us the team has opportunity to train together ahead of a busy schedule on late September, but I have faith in AVB and Levy, and I'm never gonna give that up.