I'd put a lot of it down to the money they're being paid to sit on the bench soothing their need to play every game. For example, Joe Cole was on £80k per week at Chelsea (and £100k p/w at Liverpool) - Defoe is on about 50-60k, Bassong about £25-30k.
Agree about Agbonlahor. I also think Leandro is our best bet. He's young,and looks a great prospect. Sure. you're taking a bit of a chance, but if it pays off - as I have a feeling it would, then you would have a top striker for a bargain price. He would immediately be worth double the £20mm. Good young strikers are as hard to find as rocking horse **** at the moment.
It happens at other clubs WY, but it's far more noticeable when it's your own. Plus we don't pay the same silly money as the clubs around us.
Defoe isn't good enough to be a regular starter in a top 4 team. He's got the choice of being on the bench with a chance of winning something, or starting for someone like Sunderland. I know what I would choose.
On the one hand there's plenty of players who aren't good enough for Top 4 teams - Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans, David May (sorry to cite just Man Utd players, but you get the point) - but if they do the job when their opportunity comes that's all they need to do. When looking at strikers, there seems to be two kinds - ones who keep you in the Premier League, and ones who can win you the Premier League. The former (which includes Kevin Davies and Darrent Bent, and I'd say Peter Crouch belongs on there too) may be good for 12-15 goals, but they tend to perform against the lower-ranked team and are easily marked out of games against the top opposition, and you don't win the league without beating Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal or Liverpool, let alone Top 4. That's where a striker capable of scoring, creating and holding up the ball comes into the equation. Sevilla are offering £7m...
