So, a new season in the English Premier League is under way and for this fan it seems a bit like ground hog day. Once again my team, Spurs, did some good things in the transfer window over the summer but failed to do the simple things that would have made our start to the season a little easier.

One year ago, Martin Jol was the coach and he was not given the backing needed in the transfer market. Jol wanted Distin to join Spurs (on a free transfer) but because of his high wages and age (no chance of a sell on) he was not brought in. We started the season poorly and eventually in Jan brought in the defenders we needed.

This summer we went into the transfer window needing a defensive midfielder (we sold our most rugged on TT to Sunderland) and a covering central defender. We also needed to remove some dead wood from the squad and resolve the Berbatov situation. Well we haven't done any of those things. We have sold a couple of fringe players but still have a slew floating around. We did tackle the Keane challenge well but I submit to you that if we had sorted out these other things early we would have been in a position to keep Keane if we wanted to or ensure his loss would not be felt.

We all know that had Berbatov been put on the market for 20 million ish we could have moved him abroad in the summer - Barca would have taken Berby for Dos Santos and 15 million. That money could have brought in another striker, maybe Podolski, and addressed an internal problem - Berby's attitude.

We also should have sold a clutch of fringe guys and brought in Albelda and a covering defender - but instead with a week to go in the transfer window we have still got a lot to do - Berbatov needs to be sold along with a host of others. We need to buy three players. Internal harmony and tactics need to be sorted out and we need to prepare to play Chelsea at the Bridge on the back of two defeats. Happy days.