picklerickfan: Can you confirm our interest in Emiliano Martinez?"
Alasdair says: "I wrote in a piece a few weeks back that Martinez is one of the older goalkeepers that Spurs have been looking at in recent seasons but with him turning 31 soon into next season, he's not exactly one for the future.
"Spurs' shortlist of potential players to eventually succeed Hugo Lloris contains the likes of Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, Brentford's David Raya, Brighton stopper Robert Sanchez and AC Milan's Mike Maignan. Martinez was an older player they've looked at, along with Jan Oblak. Former Spurs scout Jeff Vetere let slip that the club also like Colombia U23 goalkeeper Kevin Mier, who plays for Atletico Nacional.
"The Turkish media have mooted Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir as a potential free transfer signing this summer for the north London club, while their counterparts in Italy have long linked Alex Meret with a move to Tottenham. The 25-year-old Italy international is currently on course to win Serie A with Napoli.
"Spurs will look to secure their long-term successor to Lloris this summer and it would seem strange to target an older goalkeeper for the first choice role."
READ MORE: The sign that Antonio Conte has the fire burning again inside him despite Tottenham future talk
Spursbird: "Who are the possible manager candidates if/when Conte departs?"
Alasdair says: "Mauricio Pochettino will continue to be linked but I mentioned in my talking points last week that I don't think that's as cut and dried a return as some might expect.
"I don't think it's an absolute given that the Argentine is desperate to return right now to a very different Spurs to the one he left. There's also questions over whether everyone among the club's hierarchy would want Pochettino back, with there believed to be a split in that feeling.
"Another free agent on the market is Thomas Tuchel, but the prospect of Levy appointing a fifth former Blues boss smacks of continuing the theme of trying to be a Poundland Chelsea. There are some around the German who suggest he, like Conte, may have reservations over whether he can win the titles he has elsewhere at the north London club.
"Other coaches present more of a gamble and a restart. Roberto De Zerbi has impressed with his work at Brighton but has only been in the competition for six months and comes with a reported £11.5m release clause.
"Sporting's Ruben Amorim has caught the eye with his football and work with younger players, including Pedro Porro and former Spurs man Marcus Edwards, in Portugal but is another untested young coach. Thomas Frank has done sterling work at Brentford, Marco Silva is fashionable again with his success at Fulham, while ex-Spain and Barcelona boss Luis Enrique remains available.
"Paratici would certainly be pressing the claims of Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti, who is leading his team to the Serie A title by a long distance, but it's difficult to see why the Italian would want to move to Spurs right now, particularly with the managing director of football's future unclear."
AlexStylianou: "Can you see any possible scenario where Conte stays? Also if you had to choose his successor who would it be? Personally think De Zerbi or Thomas Frank would be the best fit in terms of continuation of the squad we've started to build, but De Zerbi's style of football seems more fluid and attacking which is what we'd all enjoy seeing again."
Alasdair says: "You can't 100% rule out Antonio Conte staying because we were all thinking he'd leave last season but this time it feels different. He's had a really tough season away from football and he's never looked entirely happy with things going on at the club. His comments this week sounded even more like a man expecting to leave in the summer. He's been given repeated chances to say he'd like to stay beyond this season but he's not taking them.
"Now there appears to be a disconnect with growing sections of the fanbase and with his contract coming to its end unless Spurs trigger the extra year option, it seems like a natural point for both sides to go their separate ways without any expensive divorce.
"If Spurs are going for a restart rather than a big name then I agree that both De Zerbi and Frank stand out as interesting project managers. Luis Enrique would bring a very different kind of football as well but, despite his past, I still think there's an element of risk to the Spaniard coming to the Premier League as his work outside Barcelona has not reached the same heights."
xRasmus: "What is the current feeling Tottenham has about Conte? Is it expected that he will leave at the end of the season or is there possibility he could stay beyond the summer?"
Alasdair says: "The feeling around the club at the moment is that both parties will go their separate ways. You can never rule out the effect and momentum a big end to the season could have but it does feel like Conte doubts the immediate future will bring much change to what he can do with the team.
"I also think the current fan mood right now makes a change less controversial than it would have been 12 months ago. The performances have not exactly blown anyone away this season, although the Italian will point to the injuries the squad has suffered throughout the campaign as a contributory reason."
jonnyhotspur: "Has Harry Kane changed his penalty technique? It didn't look like he did his little run on the spot when taking it on Saturday?"
Alasdair says: "I didn't notice that but I did think he played the percentages. Rather than looking for a corner of the net this time as he often does, Kane guided it high and down the centre of the goal, Navas diving away from it as it sailed into the back of the net.
Ultimately the main thing is that he scored his first penalty since the World Cup and if he did change up the technique perhaps that was a mental aid to avoid any familiar feelings after that night in Qatar."
WoutervD: "Do you think that the club will avoid appointing a manager that plays four at the back next season, considering our current squad with wingbacks?"
Alasdair says: "I think Porro, Udogie and Sessegnon can all play as regular full-backs, along with Emerson and Davies, so I don't think that would be an issue.
"I'm intrigued to see what happens with Perisic next season and whether his future is intertwined with Conte's. If he were to stay and Tottenham played with a back four he would likely have to revert to being one of the attackers in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3."
bikrs: "Will we carry on with a director of football if Paratici loses his appeal? Surely it is he who has started the rebuild and will select a coach to work with them?"
Alasdair says: "Levy does seem to prefer that structure but if Paratici did leave then the question would be just how high a level a new sporting director would operate within. The Italian has had more power than his predecessors but some potential managerial targets might not want to work within that kind of structure.
"The chairman ultimately will have the final say once again on whoever replaces Conte, if the Spurs boss does depart this summer.
"Levy was the driving force in hiring Conte, as he was in selecting Jose Mourinho. Before that it was the Spurs chairman who decided on Pochettino after Louis van Gaal turned him down, with then sporting director Franco Baldini preferring Frank de Boer.
"Paratici's choice was Nuno Espirito Santo, convincing Levy by showing the chairman clips of the Portuguese's attacking intent when coaching Valencia. Espirito Santo lasted just three months in the Premier League with Spurs so will not have done Paratici's managerial decision-making stock any favours.
"Tottenham could do with having some clarity on what is happening next with Paratici, perhaps more so than the Conte situation, as it has wider reaching implications."
Pontypoolyid: "Who was the person talking to Daniel Levy before our game against Forest?"
Alasdair says: "It was the Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, who was up in the director's box with Levy and the two could be seen chatting away."
KevinJB: "Do you think Fraser Forster should keep his place, when Hugo Lloris is fit again, given his good performances, and the fact that his kicking is far better than Hugo's, as well as the fact that Hugo has become error-prone?"
Alasdair says: "I've been really impressed with Forster. I genuinely think the 34-year-old is in the running to be Tottenham's signing of last summer which as a free back-up goalkeeper is as damning an indictment of the club's work in the market as it is of his work. Yet that's no reflection on Forster's efforts because he's come in and done everything asked of him in Lloris' absence. He's looking sharper and sharper and he's making some very good reflex saves.
"Forster's distribution with his feet is also top notch. He shows a composure that Lloris does not and he moves the ball quickly and accurately. On Saturday, every single one of his 16 passes found its man, including two long balls.
"I still think Lloris will retake the position when he comes back. He's the club captain and the last time he had a spell out he returned with some of his best, most consistent goalkeeping of his career."
ronnycoys: "Daniel Levy has stated that he won’t sell Harry Kane to another Premier League team. How do you see this panning out?"
Alasdair says: "It's difficult to see Levy accepting any bids from Premier League clubs for Kane this summer, unless someone makes the most eye-watering of offers for a then 30-year-old in the final year of his contract.
"Even then, Levy would likely weigh up the money gained against the hefty costs of attempting to replace what Kane brings to the team with at least two signings in a striker and a creative playmaker.
"On top of that, a team with Harry Kane in it is more likely to qualify for the Champions League. One without him is less likely to qualify and therefore miss out on the huge sum of prize money and TV revenue that clubs receive. For context, Spurs earned £90m in reaching the Champions League final in 2019 and £61m the following year for reaching the last 16. That income has only increased with each passing year. So while some might suggest Spurs would not want to lose Kane for free in the summer of 2024, it's not that cut and dried a financial decision.
"Kane is likely to fully assess his options, including whether Tottenham are a Champions League club once again and crucially who is to take over from Conte, if the Italian does depart as expected."
Mossi007: "What are your thoughts on Oliver Skipp since coming into the team? Seems like everyone forgot how good he actually is."
Alasdair says: "I think Skipp is growing sharper and more dominant with each passing game. The 22-year-old now looks every inch the player he was becoming in the first half of last season under Nuno Espirito Santo and then Conte, before that pelvic injury ended his campaign.
"His passing is also proving to be a useful weapon for Spurs and Conte. Further up the pitch he provided that raking ball through to Richarlison for the early ruled out goal, but it's deeper where he's playing clever, quick passes between opponents and between the lines and it is getting Tottenham quickly up the pitch.
"Injuries have hit Spurs' midfield but they have also placed Skipp back in the spotlight and he's grabbing the opportunity with both hands."
Gettingthereslowly: "Do you think the uncertainty over Conte and Kane's long-term future has affected the players?"
Alasdair says: "I think the uncertainty over Conte's future must surely play some part with the squad. How he manages that situation in the coming weeks is going to be crucial to Spurs' top four hopes."
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