But his fingers were sitll singed! Personally he should be investing but as I recall he did say he wanted the club to be self sufficient. The only money he has taken out (that we are aware of) has gone to paying off the loans he has provided for us. If Rafa had actually spent the money wisely we wouldn't be in this ****..... £18M on Atsu and Murphy?!!
Or Fabian Schär £3,000,000 Martin Dúbravka £3,600,000 Federico Fernández £6,000,000 No manager has a 100% hit record on transfer fees. People can always select the good or the bad depending upon their agenda. You can also quote the ones that "got away" but we don't know if they had indicated they didn't want to come or their wage demands were too high or their Agents fees demands were too high or that they didn't want to head North or NUFC wasn't attractive to them because of Ashley or what. Logic does dictate however that Rafa hasn't been given every penny generated and that a fair few of the signings were a bit down his list and only purchased because of the parsimonious Mr Ashley. So to be correct we wouldn't be in this **** if Ashley didn't run the Club on the cheap and had kept to his word about every penny and Rafa having the final say.
If you read what I had to written - I said "if he had spent it wisely". £18M on 2 players who play in the same position is not wise. Now, considering he has always wanted to play 3 at the back, why the F are we buying wingers? Wasn't th whole point of Kenedy was that accoring to people on here was that he could play as wing back?
We still need wingers in the 5-4-1 we are playing? Better wingers than: Murphy - who I think should be given more time but needs a loan to get regular football under his belt and given another go next season Kenedy - I was raving about him before he turned up, he's shown glimpses of quality but not often enough and personally I'd get rid now Atsu - works hard but a very limited player - about right for a high Championship team/lower EPL which we are... Ritchie is our best by a mile - limited ability but works tirelessly and a leader in the group - probably a level above Atsu - mid to lower EPL player. Over spent on Murphy at £12m but £6m for Atsu is about right when you think Ritchie was £10-12m
He's spent £128m since he arrived....very unwisely in my opinion (Kenedy and Ki didn't appear on the list I sourced for some reason) :- 5 of the above are no longer at the club but there ain't a lot from that list that instill a massive amount of confidence in you is there? It's a championship list of players at best and the root of the problem in my opinion. A lot of the above needed to have either been shipped out completely and replaced with better, or retained as cover. Maybe Ashley just doesn't trust Rafa with his cash, i can't quite figure it out.
The point I'm making is that no Manager has a 100% success rate on transfers. It's, therefore, a bit unfair to expect Rafa to have a 100% success rate. He has had some successes and he's had a few flops. Kenedy is probably a good example in that he played relatively well last season but this one he's just not been at the races. He was a good acquisition last season but not this season all with the benefit of hindsight. Who said we are buying wingers? Also who said Rafa always wanted to play 3 at the back? I've not seen that. Allegedly we've been after a left back for ages but still haven't got one. It may be that that has caused the change in tactics. Ultimately though we are in the position we are in due to Ashley and no-one else. I'm not saying Rafa is perfect and can do no wrong. He's made plenty decisions which have confused me but if someone isn't given a fair crack of the whip then I won't criticise him as opposed to the person not giving the first person a fair crack of the whip.
I don't believe that for a second! £178m income. I reckon that at least £50m of that has an unknown destination, but I doubt it has much to do with paying loans from the club.
If we did a table with purchase price and current value on for His buys I’m sure he will come out of it looking good.
Most of those players have been sold for are or worth more than the price paid which reflects well on Rafa. Dubravka for one is at least at £20m keeper. Even Gayle would fetch £15m if sold today.
£128m spent on 20 players (excluding the loan deals) averaging about £6.5m a player - don't think you can ask for much more to be honest. Pay for what you get. Then take into account what he's sold - Sissoko £30m, Wijnaldum, £25m, Mitro £20m, Townsend £15m, Merino £10 - £75m incoming on those 5 alone not including, Cisse, Thuavin, Cabella, Janmaat etc after relegation.
**** me when its laid bare like that it doesn't make for pretty reading. Some good defensive signings though. When you look at that I'm not sure the defenders of his transfer work have anywhere to hide. They will though. I think the biggest thing they struggle with is that nobody is saying he has had good money to spend, he hasn't. Its just that he hasn't spent his 128m very well. I love that they then present his sales as an excuse. It has zero relevance. We are only assessing how he has spent his 128m. Which, to anyone with a half trained eye, isn't very well.
I would doubt some of those purchasing figures above. Did Sels and Hanley really cost near enough £6m each? I doubt the numbers have any reliability.
The rumoured amounts were 6.5m for Sels, however we recovered 3.5m, Hanley was 5.5m and we recovered 3.5m. I'd question the fees the other way. I'm sure we paid more for Ritchie, Gayle and Murphy.
Some outrageous transfer rumours doing the rounds today - Joselu pursued by (2!!!) clubs! Manquillo off to Lazio!! Tielemans coming here for £25million!!! Also, according to a 'reliable' Atlanta based journalist, we have finally agreed terms on Almiron today and he is on his way to sign.
Mark Douglas and Lee Ryder are now cutting a slice of the cake: Mark DouglasVerified account@MsiDouglas 7m7 minutes ago Significant deal, this. Almiron deal ON Lee RyderVerified account@lee_ryder We understand that talks are back on. And deal is all but agreed subject to medical for Almiron. Talks collapsed last week but the MLS star is hoping to sign for #nufc
The Guardian are suggesting that MA has been stung into action by Rafa's threat to walk and the increased risk of relegation that would have resulted. We'll see.
Mark DouglasVerified account@MsiDouglas 6m6 minutes ago So Almiron flying over for a medical at #nufc in next 24 hours. Negotiations have been tortuous but brinkmanship appears to have worked. Rafa's number one target all through the month so will be pleased if it goes through now.
