I would suggest it is you who are stupid. You seem to think you can do everybody's job better than they can. It hasn't occurred to you that some players may not want to come to Hull. Some players SB may not want. Some players do not actually hit the market until their clubs have arranged replacements. If you make stupid, short sighted, sneering attacks on the clubs officers, expect some in return.
All the factors mentioned above by Ellewoods, John.Walkington and HCAFC Says Stan are likely to be involved to varying degrees. I would not underestimate Stan's point - Bruce is a man-manager extraordinaire and recognizes the importance of team harmony. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if Shane Long had been Bruce's number #1 or # 2 goal scoring target from the beginning of the window, or even before. Enquiries may well have been made, but responses muted. Other plan 'B's and 'C's followed...yet again no dice. Lo and behold, deadline day, Long looks like he may be available afterall if WBA get their links in the chain in order......get in there. Sadly, pipped by Clarke's uncertainty during the last few hours etc. Perhaps the key things in all of this is that Bruce will know who he wants, in order, discussed acceptable/reasonable asking prices for them with the Allams, rationalized that against the budget, got agreement on how to proceed and set the alternative plans into motion. I think the question you are asking here Hullborn really is of all those $6 million players out there, how many does Bruce fancy would fit into the clubs plans from all those perspectives ? No doubt in my mind Bruce will have done his best.
Clearly Long was one of Brucey's preferred strikers ffs. If Bruce didn't think he was good enough, he never would have bid £5m for him!
Nowadays it isn't difficult to do your initial scouting from a computer. That doesn't mean you don't need a scouting network - like Ehab thinks - but it does mean it doesn't have to be as costly. ProScout7 can ensure you know about players from all over the world. http://info.scout7.com/default.aspx?lang=en Other clubs use it but the information available on a vast number of players would give us a good opportunity in scouring the world. I don't understand this theory that because the Allam's have done a lot for the club then we should try to handicap our attempt to stay in the Premier League by not getting a quality striker. Bent and Bendtner were available. Whether they would come to us I don't know. What I do know is the cost of not staying up will be more than the £3m+ that a season's loan for Bent would cost or the outlay of £4.5m that a season with Bendtner would have cost (less any resale value if we did get relegated).
If UEFA saw it as a problem in Europe they could instruct the leagues to start at the same time. What I don't understand is why they even have a transfer window? It seems so artificial and means that clubs buy more players than they need in case there are injuries, suspensions or loss of form. In the old days clubs didn't have to do this. They would just buy players when they needed them.
Agreed. Like Steve Bruce, Steve Clarke was hoping his previous deals has been enough, but following their three mediocre league performances, and an Anelka retirement scare obviously made him re-think his options late in the day. Personally I don't think West Brom have done enough to escape the lower half table battle that lies ahead.
Maybe not stupid, just a bean-counter with pussy problems and that creates issues in it's self; just ask Al Capone!
What if SB/NP checked with their agents? We don't know, as most negotiations here are kept very quiet. They may not have wanted to come to an 'unfashionable' club. They may not have wanted to be part of a club they felt would be relegated, come the end of the season. We do not know....
With most of these things it comes down to money. The club have increased their chances of being relegated significantly for the sake of a few million pounds. We all know what happens to a club who get relegated. Many of them lose a lot of money. What will happen to Huddlestone if we get relegated?
http://info.scout7.com/Clients.aspx?lang=en according to that we are already using ProScout7.. please log in to view this image
I think Graham and Sagbo will come good. The way some people are reacting you'd think we we 15 points off safety at the end of the January window, not the odd point after 3 games....
And where would you draw the line? £2m, £3m, £5m, £20m? Funded by who? The Allams I guess. Certainly not you, or me. Easy to criticise someone else for not putting in a "few" more million pounds. Other than carping about the people who have funded the rescue and current success of the club, have you anything constructive to say? Or is your primary function on Earth just to know better than everyone else about everything?
I do find it strange that with so many strikers they weren't willing to let Long go especially given he only had a year to go on his contract.
Whats the problem with Peter saying this. We have increased our chances of relegation by not buying a striker. Doesnt mean peter or me are stopping supporting the club but it was a mistake. True we dont know the ins and outs. Was Long a "long" term target, were funds released in desperation. But make no mistake we have been left with egg on our face.
Even in the lower half of the league a club will prefer to hold onto a player, and even keep him on the bench, than let him score goals for a rival team. We saw it at the top, Arsenal thought they had Ba from Chelsea, Chelsea pull out and Arsenal finish with Bentdner.
(1) No kidding. So, unlike the Allams (seemingly supported by Bruce) you are an advocate of profligacy and reckless abandon in the business world ? (2) Relevance ?
We've signed 3 strikers this transfer window, granted a fourth would have been nice but lets not lose sight of what we have achieved. We look a decent side and despite some of the big fees paid for strikers by some of our rivals, none of them have acquired a proven Premier League goal scorer.
That's a bit rich coming from somebody who gushed about the Allam's company financial results and then it turned out he had never seen them. I understand that during a transfer window there's various factors to take into account. Many clubs, not all, have realised they need strikers to ensure they have a good chance to stay up - see Southampton and Norwich to pick two at random. I am not suggesting that we pay the money they have paid but I am sure we could have bought a couple of quality strikers for what we were willing to pay for Long.
