Granted. The problem with our transfer stratgy tbh, picking up high profile playersat our level and trying to pick players from above our level. We managed Hooiveld, Fonte, Cork, Lambert while we were a level or two below ourselves. Fromt he championship up we were competing with clubs our own size and had to make the difference up in cash. This is where Paul Lambert really seems to have come into his own. He regularly picks class from obscurity. Got a lot of time for him.
Oh come on you can't compare the impacts of players like Lambert in league 1 to players like Ramirez in the PL. Firstly, Lambert was already a bloody good league 1 player when he joined and scored more goals for us than Bristol Rovers because he got better service. Also players like Ramirez have come from different countries and it can be difficult settling in. Look at Drogba. He was ****e in his first season for Chelsea - he didn't turn out to be a bad signing did he?
I had a discussion about this in the transfer thread. It is impossible imo to sign players for the level we want to be at who are unknown. With today's technology any player who is probably good enough to be playing in a team pushing for Europe/in Europe will be known by virtually every top flight club. This is where our transfer policy differs slightly. We try and sign players who may not be that level now, but hopefully will get to that level in time. So when you highlighted the players we signed last summer earlier, they would've been brought in to keep us up, which they did, and then hopefully progress and help the club reach the next level.
According to the OS this chap was very sought after. So him and Maya pairing next season, or will he be lining up alongside Forren? Lovren and Forren has a certain ring to it.
I would think it will depend on how Forren does during preseason training. If he does well I would think it would be Lovren and Forren. Or we could play 3 at the back.
Of course I can compare it. We spent nearly half of our transfer budget on a foreigner who had a great likelihood of not settling instead of what we did in league one. (and most of the rest of it on Mayuka and Rodriguez, and eventually Forren) Fair enough make an investment here or there, but it was foolhardy to neglect the here and now. I didn't expect us to rebuild the whole squad again with premier league players, but we only picked up ONE player with PL experience last summer and he had been in the noddy SPL for years. As it happens he was an alright signing if not an automtic first team choice. Failing to pick up a proper goalie was ostensibly Adkins' fault though.
But we didn't. We bought Clyne, Davis, Rodriguez, Yoshida. We also brought Shaw and JWP into the first team. That isn't neglecting the here and now.
Davis is the only player i don't consider a risk in your selection and even then, as I said, he hadn't played at that level for years. Take off the hindsight goggles. We did nearly no sensible here and now business until Boruc.
Every signing is a risk. I remember all the Sunderland fans going mental over Adam Johnson signing. Think he cost similar to Gaston, had PL experience is for the here and now but has had a far worse season than Ramirez
you can justify punts depending on your starting point. Sunderland were established in the PL with an experienced squad and won't have expected to be dragged into the relegation fight. we were embarking on our first season in the top flight with a squad of debutants bar cork and and Davis*2, one of which had had the worst season of his career the single time he'd been this high. We took too many punts and we were lucky to get away with it in my book.
So you feel we got lucky that our signings achieved our main objective, where as I think it was good planning/scouting that we signed players who did a job straight away and have the potential to improve. Think we may have to just agree to disagree about the last transfer window
Not sure what anyone expected of Adam Johnson anyway. He had an england cap so he's comparable with foreigners at half the price.
Only one of them did a job straight away and throughout the season. Two at a push. from the summer window. Last transfer window none did.
By straight away I meant in their first season, I would say that Clyne, Yoshida, Davis, Ramirez, Rodriguez and Boruc (who was admittedly signed later) all had large roles in last season.
Ramirez bundled a few goals in (the last one I remember was almost embarassing) he had about two games of looking convincing. Clyne- quality signing in hindsight and by all reports a fair price for an unproven player. Risky business to rely on him, Richardson, and Butterfield Yoshida - jury is out, horrorshow to begin with. I like him but his adjustment period nearly cost us. Davis - Straight out of the blocks. Then not much. Rangers fans told us he goes missing. Part of it i'm sure was the indecision over player roles. Rodriguez - Apart from a small goal glut he was just a willing runner getting nowhere. He looked very much like what we saw of him playing for Burnley at SMS. at 24 next month and at such a chunk of the budget I didn't expect someone so raw and i worry that he's running out of time to become more than an average player. Boruc - Saved the season IMO. Shouldhave signed someone in the summer.
four goals in 19 league games. Stellar. Plenty of hopeful shots from outside the area though. At least he can strike the ball cleanly, unlike Adam.
But his pace and movement caused other teams plenty of problems. Liverpool and Chelsea in particular really struggled against him at St Marys. You really are narrow minded.
