PETER CROUCH: Doomed? Spurs are heading for the top four

They're doomed. They must be. Tottenham didn't make a signing in the transfer window so the season must be written off, here and now.

How can they possibly hope to make progress or hope to be seen as ambitious without recruitment? The question has been asked lots since Thursday's 5pm deadline, mainly by those who seem to get more excited by deals in the market rather than what happens on the field.

It is, of course, unusual that Tottenham didn't make one addition but there is another way of looking at things – the one that says they have just completed three of the most important months in their recent history and put an end to an old trend.

The Tottenham I grew up watching – and the club I played for – was always associated with selling. Whenever they had a top-notch performer, it was always a matter of 'when' not 'if' they would cash in and take the money.

Think about it: from Chris Waddle — who went to Marseille in 1989 — and Paul Gascoigne, who Lazio bought three years later, to Michael Carrick (2006), Dimitar Berbatov (2008), Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart (both 2012) and Gareth Bale (2013), the star man always went.

So, by that logic, Harry Kane (above) should have gone this year. He's on Bale's level now, he's the emblem of the team. He would also command a fortune in this market, way beyond £150million. The old Tottenham would have entered negotiations and offloaded him to the highest bidder.

Instead, Tottenham have used the 13 weeks since the final game of last season to tie Kane down to a long-term contract, the most lucrative in their history. I do not care what anyone says; they could not have made a better signing than that in the window.

But it didn't stop there. Mauricio Pochettino, the manager who has been at the heart of Tottenham's progress, has been rewarded with a bumper long-term deal, as have Son Heung-Min — a forward who I hold in the highest regard — Davinson Sanchez, Erik Lamela and Michel Vorm.

Aside from that, moves have been made to get new deals for Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, while Toby Alderweireld – for the moment, at least – and Moussa Dembele are still at White Hart Lane.

Those are not the actions of a club that lacks ambition nor does it tell me they are doomed. As far as I can see, Tottenham are set up for another good season and just because they didn't get caught up in the mayhem on the final day doesn't spell trouble.

I can understand why they wanted to sign Jack Grealish. It was a deal that made sense. He is a talented young Englishman and his profile suggests he would have blossomed under Pochettino's guidance. Had the deal gone through, I could have seen him pushing for a senior cap.

What you have to remember, however, is Daniel Levy has an approach to negotiations that he will not change. He will never pay over the odds. He has a reputation for doing deals at the last minute but only if he believes they make sense. It's why he is such a successful businessman.

So while it is strange to see them become the first club since 2003 not to make an incoming transfer, I still expect them to be in the top four next May. When they get back home to White Hart Lane, I can see them taking off again.

I wouldn’t go as far to say they are now the top club in London. For all the good work of the last four years, they still can’t match Chelsea and Arsenal for trophies and that is something that needs to be changed going forward. The players I have listed — and the manager — want to be winners.

And don’t think the start to the campaign is going to be without problems. They had so many players involved in the latter stages of the World Cup that there is going to be a hangover, simply because of what they have missed in pre-season.

You can do all the running and gym sessions you like but the only thing that prepares you for a football game is football games. I’ve seen it first hand with Jack Butland. He only had one game before the season started after going to Russia with England this summer.

If you are suddenly expecting Tottenham to collapse in a heap because they didn’t make a signing, you are going to be mistaken. There are ways to bolster a team and what they have done this summer is strengthen from within.

Should you need proof, just look at their attack: that’s where you will find the man who left the World Cup as the winner of the Golden Boot.

I WENT BACK 15 YEARS AT LEEDS!

It was a real eye-opener to be back in the Championship with Stoke. The last time I had played at that level was for Norwich in a game at Millwall in December 2003, and in some ways it felt like I had gone back 15 years at Elland Road.

I don't want that to come across as a criticism because it isn't; I was blown away, really, by the intensity and the physicality of the Championship. I only came on for the last 15 minutes but I loved the aggression of the contest against Leeds.

The Premier League has certainly become more refined of late and referees clamp down on anything and everything. We have become much more European in the way the game at the highest level is played and the match officials are quick to clamp down and offer protection.

But that wasn't the case last week. A couple of the tackles that I saw go in, for instance, would definitely have been red cards in the top division, but they were only punished with fouls. And a few challenges I expected to end up with bookings weren't even penalised.

This was the British style that I had grown up with and it honestly wasn't a problem. I'm going to enjoy it! But it was a valuable lesson of what the season is going to be like and we need to prepare for more afternoons of this nature.

Elland Road was bouncing and the atmosphere was brilliant. Full credit to Leeds because they didn't let us settle for a minute. They were a young team who charged around and nobody offered complaints about the result. We deserved to lose. Now we know what is ahead of us we must adapt quickly. We can't let a defeat like that happen again.

JACK DIDN'T GET HIS MOVE... NOW FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF COUTINHO

The new transfer deadline has caused great debate and there have been many critics about the early closing of the window.

But it is closed now and for those players who have been the subject of significant interest but did not get their moves, they have to forget about everything that has happened over the last few weeks and concentrate on the importance of playing.

I have been in dressing rooms with lads who thought they were going somewhere but ended up staying put. The stories don't always come out but it seems to happen every year that someone will think they are leaving only for things to fall through.

Not for one minute do I think Leicester's Harry Maguire or Jack Grealish of Aston Villa will sulk but they are bound to think of what might have been, having been persistently linked with Manchester United and Tottenham respectively.

The worst thing anyone could do, though, is go on strike or stay away from the training ground. There is absolutely no mileage in showing dissent. You gain nothing from displaying a lack of respect to the club that employs you and you'll hardly endear yourself to the team that wants to buy you.

If you want an example of how to get over a blocked transfer, look at Philippe Coutinho. Everyone knew he had his heart set on joining Barcelona this time last year but he got his head down and played well for Liverpool. A few months later the circumstances were right.

Clubs don't tend to lose interest in players they pursue. What they want to see is the form that caught their eye in the first place continue. I've no doubt Maguire and Grealish will show over the next 12 months why they have been such wanted men.

It's a strange feeling looking in from the outside as the Premier League gets underway but my excitement for the new season remains as strong as ever. We've picked our fantasy teams and we have got a league going at Stoke.

The opening match is like no other. From the moment you walk back through the door on the first day of training, everything is geared up to being ready for the middle of August. You do double sessions, you spend time in the gym and play friendlies and it is all centred on one 90 minutes.

There is so much adrenaline pumping that you tend to get lots of goals and shocks all around and my one hope for the year is that we do get more surprise results and the title race doesn't turn into a procession.

Getting three points on the board straight away is fantastic but I've experienced the other side of the coin and one of my most vivid memories is losing 4-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on my debut for Portsmouth 10 years ago.

We hardly got a kick that day and I came away thinking Deco, who also made his debut for Chelsea, was going to be one of the best players we had ever seen in England!

What happens on the first day, clearly, is not a sign of how things will turn out!