Warnock banging on about his attitude might not have helped. Mind I doubt it was much of a secret anyway.
I don't think there's much doubt that if Spence was a model pro who'd just been on a steady upwards trajectory we'd probably have got much closer to £20m for him.
Most of us think it's a gamble for Spurs (albeit one they can afford to take). Spurs will have done their homework, they'll not be ignorant of his character. They'll know there's a risk there, hence a lower fee than you might expect compared to other young top championship players who have moved in recent years.
Think if we've got close to £15m and some add ones to take it higher that's a good deal and a fair price all things considered.
Yeah, his body language on the pitch didn't look all that great, but that might just be the way he is (sometimes things look bad when they aren't), apparently I give our lass dirty looks all the time, when I've never gave anyone a dirty look in my life
Who knows how he is behind the scenes, certainly not any of us
He might have just been a young lad, and just thought Warnock was a bit of an old dinosaur, but I suppose most young lads these days think like that, so he's only competing like for like.
I think £20m up front was always going to be a pipe dream mind, I even think £15m is over the odds. I think we've played a blinder for £12.5m, and don't expect to get many of the addons, but they would be welcome of course. I can't think of many LB/RB/LWB/RWB's who have gone for 20m, from the champo to prem, after one good season and a few average ones.
A supposed £10-20m player going on loan from one Championship Club aiming for promotion to another lower down the league is probably a first, from what I can think of, so that must ring some sort of alarm bells. Also the fact we didn't recall him after the good start, rings even more.
It's next to no risk to Spurs though, but not because they're wealthy. If they get him for £12-15m, then even if he doesn't play they will still be able to offload him for 75% of that. The only thing they're really losing out on is the opportunity cost, of being able to spend that on maybe someone else who is more proven. If he does well he'll cost them more in bonuses, but that won't bother them as they'll get more back to cover that.