Certainly looks like you know your stuff. Even more impressive that at that very time you had a high opinion and faith in Martin Dubravka.....didn't you?! Another opinion of the keeper signing (among others) at the time: "A new keeper is the priority? FFS! So maybe someone is thinking that if we never concede again between now and the end of the season we have a better chance of staying up. A plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. We could play with 2 keepers in goal and still concede man, what a bunch of prized ****ing dickheads we have at our club !" It didn't appear to be a great move, but I'll happily eat a hat and bow to Rafa's infinitely greater judgement. That said, something else I wrote in the same thread when the anger relating to simply not spending had ebbed away: "The loans were good business. Irks me to say it. Two starters and hopefully the GK is better than what we have. 5 or 6 out Rafa wouldn't play. Tidies it up, doesn't burden the club. We lament those clubs spending a lot of money, but we'll see in May what was wiser." Not an irrefutable fact, but fairly prescient. The response to the poster wasn't actually specifically meant at him/her; it was the fact a lot of people seem to have succumbed to the fact a negative spend is ok, because we've replaced players the manager doesn't want with those he looks like he does. I agree in principal, but we have just swapped and saved so far when we really needed to be strengthening the starting XI, given the money being spent around us. Of course, money doesn't guarantee anything, but if we trust the manager in the context of producing a negative net spend, why oh why are the club not trusting to make it easier to survive with one or two key purchases? So in my humble opinion the business we have done is somewhere between average and meh. We're taking players from relegated sides to replace those leaving and are not even in the running for something exciting. Wet Spam have spent £40m on a midfielder. Fulham will have spent over £20m twice. We're haggling over Rondon and throwing Gayle in to afford it, because Ashley will only pay up front and won't stagger payments. Honestly, it looks like its because he doesn't know how to juggle football numbers effectively. Can you proof read this to make sure everything is a qualified statement? I'd hate to make an arse of myself again.
Could you say with any certainty that either West Ham or Fulham have guaranteed safety with their business. Could you say with any degree of certainty they will finish above us? Yes they are spending a little more on individuals. I don't think that can be disputed. Yes they are taking a slightly different approach in that they are happy to buy a new squad and try to sell the unwanted after. Reality is though if we get to the end of the window and have a squad of 25 that is better than last year, then we've done ok. The degree of how well we've done will be truly evident once the window closes but I'd already consider us stronger now. Other teams will think they've strengthened too of course. To be honest I think you panic too much. Its borne out of frustration of course that we can't be what we'd all like us to be, but I genuinely think we are on a good path this summer in terms of finally ridding ourselves of some players who the manager can't use. Regardless of what any of us think of Sels, Mbemba and Mitrovic - Rafa didn't rate them at all. We are replacing them with players he wants. They may not be his top choice, and his top choice may not always be realistic but if they are Rafa signings we are in better shape as they are actually of use. I would not be at all surprised to see West Ham or Fulham having a spell fighting relegation personally. I don't think they've bought their way out of it. Both have top coaches though so that has to be factored in too.
Are we, at this moment in time, a better squad at present? We have basically resigned Dubravka and Kenedy. We have signed a free transfer in Ki, but sold Merino. We are selling Mitro and have signed (nearly) Muto. We do not know if he is any better or not? We have signed Schar which looks a reasonable deal on paper however we have lost Lejune to injury and he will miss most of the season.We sold Mbemba. We have also sold Sels. How is it you consider us stronger now? Will we be at the end of the window? Who knows!
We have signed Dubravka and Kenedy for a full season. We had them for half last year. We've sold Mitro who Rafa refused to use and signed Muto who was on Rafa's list. We have signed Ki and sold Merino. I liked Merino but at this stage in their respective careers, Ki is the better player for me and has mountains of experience at the highest levels (not to mention a very successful past partnership with Shelvey). We've sold Mbemba who Rafa refused to use to any great degree, and signed Schar who he is happy with. The injury to Lejeune is not relevant. He is part of our squad and injuries occur. The others who have left like Colback, Sels, Haidara, Gamez have zero impact on our squad. I think we may have signed a couple of young players for the development squad but I don't count them as strengthening the squad. We have a fairly young squad so obviously players will improve under our coaching (assuming we rate Rafa and his backroom team). I honestly can't see how anyone can present it a anything other than stronger - unless you are being uber negative. Regardless of the unknowns, we have more players the manager is happy to use than previously. Regardless what we think of these players we have to back the manager to know his stuff.
We’ve been here before, mate, it’s anger and frustration because it’s needless. The owner and his greed, penny pinching and myopic views are so utterly unnecessary it just really bites on a daily basis. However, there’s not enough to categorically state that Ki, Muto and possibly Rondon won’t be next years Colback, Mitro and Lazaar, the deadwood we need to move on. I think we’re on a necessary, rather than “good”, path this Summer. It’s bare minimum, cost saving, Ashley-rules football. As usual. The killer thing is he doesn’t need to dip into HIS pocket to change it. Structure payments out, SD pay sponsorship, add someone with experience to drive the new commercial initiatives and wallop, all good. And for the final paragraph - who’s going to be surprised if NUFC are fighting relegation? Nobody.
If you bought a car for £2k in 1990, it would probably have been quite a flashy new car purchase. In 2018, you would struggle to buy a couple of new tyres for that. Player inflation has gone through the roof, market value has completely shifted, but our transfer spending hasn't changed to match the conditions. A 25 year old with perceived quality from another league will cost a minimum £20 million, and will have resale value whether they are a success or not. A £5 million striker who is absolutely dross is very difficult to sell on, because he's a bargain bin buy. That's why people care about the costs.
Yes but when your budgets are tight and you need to be cute, what is wrong with picking up a great car for a bargain price. My mate did this recently with a Passat As long as we improve and good players come in, then don't worry about how much the club has spent. We have exploited Muto and Schar's situation is all. We found a gem in Dubravka for cheap. We have loaned Kenedy who is top class for a good fee. We're doing good business.
Strangely I agree with you. It’s not the cost that counts but the quality of the player. Also we should wait until the end of the transfer window before deciding how we’ve done. I tend to think it’s not the amounts most people are really bothered with but the actual players that are supposedly being considered. It’s just one of a number of contributory factors but bottom line is the more you spend then the more likely that the new player will improve the team rather than maintain a status quo. Obviously, it’s not guaranteed but if you’re playing percentages then that’s one way to improve your chances of improving the team. Ashley is just giving the impression of looking to maintain rather than improve and that’s what annoys a lot of fans and at the same time stockpiling money.
Guaranteed? No. Improved their chances? Yes. You have said you rate both managers, so if we assume the players they've bought are "their" choices then it follows you also believe they have improved their chances. What Fulham did was buy someone who bagged a lot of goals, doesn't matter that he came from here. They believe in him and time will tell what happens, but they were willing to write a cheque for £20m+ and get it "over the line". Pellegrini has given his board some hefty targets. They've gone out and got them. Are they better equipped than we are? I reckon so. They're making it very hard for Hudds, Brighton, Fulham, Wolves, Cardiff, Burnley, et al. to compete with their first XI and subsequent squads. We're wheeling and dealing enough to make Redknapp blush. In a nutshell, Fulham, who have just been promoted with gates of 18k, have smashed our transfer record 3 times in one Summer. How do THEY have cash that we just don't? They have a Sporting Director, ffs.
Little side note on our side-show - Poor Mike, with all his real money tied up in shares and the like, is about to hand over a £50m loan to House of Fraser. The man's a saint, I tell ya.
Is this alleged swap deal a permanent switch? If so, I assume West Brom are paying us the extra cash, rather than the other way around. We can surely sell Gayle for £12m to a Championship team. Rondon might be worth his £16.5m buy out clause if he had a few years left on his contract, but he's in the last year of his deal so £8m would be generous. Gayle has 3 years to run on his deal with us therefore he is worth his full value and any swap should be in our favour.
We appear to be being held to ransom on the Rondon deal. West Brom seem to want us to purchase Rondon on loan with an agreement to purchase. However they don't want to pay enough for Gayles wages, and will not agree to buying him on completion of the loan or buying him now. I'd just sit that one out if Rafa wants him. They will crack as they have a player who wants out and need goals to shoot them back up. The position of strength never lies with the relegated club. We have Muto so if we have Gayle too I'm fine with that. If Rafa prefers Rondon and its him, then that's fine too.
You'd like to think so but how do we offload Gayle? To even have the option of signing another forward we need to shift him.
