I'd love to have seen how Cabella, Thauvin and MYM would have progressed under Rafa instead of some of the other managers and to be fair - Marveux and 1x De Jong were crocks, don't think they ever managed to string 3 games together between them. De Jong's lung collapse - can't predict that! The other De Jong was the Ismail Slimani of the time. Also think Riviere and Marveux were something to do with the dodgy agent payments if I'm not mistaken so might not be fair to place them at Carr's door in this instance. There were others as well granted but it was like we had the right scouting set up and manager in place at different times. I mean with the team of 12/13 - Cabaye, HBA, Sissoko, Tiote, Ba, Cisse, Gutierrez all going forwards and the defenders Simpson, Santon, Colo, Debuchy, MYM etc under Rafa would have been incredible - we finished 16th that season....
Jesus make your mind up lads, I've got Groot, Jak and ACS on my case about prawn sandwiches, and then Rob - Rafa's personal knob polisher - suggesting I'm poor. You answered the question is Rafa better in the transfer markets than Pardew/Carr by saying yes he was. So yes you did come to that conclusion. I don't think there is a problem with just Lazaar. The problem is much wider and from my perspective, its the overall profile of his transfer work here. Its been more miss than hit and when you're on a tight budget its a real kicker. The other issue is I'm struggling to think of one standout signing where you think wow. Your Cabaye type player, your Ben Arfa under Hughton etc. Maybe Kenedy but he's very inconsistent - Rafa seems to have no idea on flair players which is reflected in how he plays. He is just poor in the transfer market but as I say this has been a constant theme throughout his career. Its a very easy fix too if Rafa is open to a bit of continual improvement. The club would need to be willing to sanction another overhead of course which may be a problem, because you need a director of football for a coach like Rafa who is great at getting output from players, but pretty useless at actually picking players to sign. The assertion that Pardew had it easier is silly. Inflation works both ways on purchases and sales. If you are breaking even or making a small profit 5 years ago, or doing the same now, its exactly the same thing surely? Unless you are struggling to see the obvious that Rafa ain't all that in the transfer market of course... You know when someone starts clasping at the headbutt or wanting more English in the team that they kinda know they've been mullered. I think the problem is you are taking the assessment of Rafa's cock ups personally and as a slight on his coaching. I think everyone appreciates his coaching. However if something is obviously not being done particularly well, like transfers, surely we should correct it for the betterment of the club? Stevie Wonder can see he is not great at transfers. I would be kind and say perhaps he is used to working in a more elite market for transfers, but there is nothing in his career to suggest he gets better the more money he has. G4TA correctly notes, Pardew/Carr assembled a far better team than Rafa on exactly the same constraints. The problem was you then had to rely on Pardews tactics and coaching. Switch Pardew out for Rafa, tweak the power setting so Rafa has a little more influence, I think you'd have a much better club.
