Well I think it's safe to say that I am a Harry apologist (I would even go so far as to ask why the word "apologist" is needed for a manager who got us our best ever PL finishes twice but let's not go there!). And yeah - what you got from Harry was the sort of signing that just made you go "Well yeah - obviously". Players like Gallas, Friedel, Parker, Defoe etc. The plan seems to be one where these sorts of signings are not made any more. The reasons given by fans for this approach are about resale value, wages etc and if you can be 5th/6th with the odd chance of 4th whilst having more of an eye on the balance sheet than on next week's team then why not? Not sure I agree but there you go.
AVB with Soldado is a definite answer - although Poch has missed out on a couple of players he wanted due to circumstances beyond his control.
I suppose it depends what you mean by success? I don't much care whether they came in, did a job and got us one or two extra points and maybe increased in value. I want us to unearth real success stories who make a real difference to the what we can achieve. I think there are only five to seven in that category so far under Levy: Carrick, Berbatov, Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart, maybe Lloris and Eriksen. The score is then 6-1 to the DoF periods and I've got hopes for Dier, Yedlin and Alli We simply are not going to catch the clubs above us by signing slight successes like Crouch. There were almost none at all in the 15 years before Levy.
Some interesting points PS. My point of view is that whilst it's true that qualitatively there's obviously no comparison between a Carrick and a Sandro or Palacios, the bottom line is as we both know that a club of our size cannot (yet) have a hope of keeping hold of the Carricks and Bales of this world for more than a few years before they're snapped up. Which means to my mind, the collective strength of the team that is left behind is of far greater importance. We are fond of saying that the team left behind by Modric and VDV needed a Bale-sized plaster to hold things together. That may be true, but it's plainly foolish to suggest that we finished 5th literally single-handedly. It is here that we become reliant to the Nth degree on 'successes' or 'maybes' such as Sandro, Vertonghen, Parker, Friedel, Gallas etc who granted aren't nearly world class, but are essential in providing that Bale-sized plaster with something to stick to. As incredible as Bale was that last year he was with us, you couldn't have put him in Sunderland's team and expected them to finish 5th. Just using that as an example to highlight that I believe that our success and failure is dependent on recruiting the behind the scenes men who quietly get on with things while the superstar steals the headlines. One of the reasons behind our low points tally last season was that the superstar (Kane) had a poorer supporting cast than our last superstar (Bale), since Kane was playing as part of a squad simply full of duds, as this transfer window more than demonstrates. The Chiriches', Chadlis, Capoues, Paulinhos, Dembeles of this world aren't bought with even the faintest hope of one day becoming that superstar. They are bought with the (realistic) expectation that they will keep the squad and team ticking over nicely, keeping it as a whole competently competitive. The fact that we fail so miserably with that type of player when a DOF is at the reins is extremely telling. Consider the fact that without a DOF we picked up Gallas, Friedel. Parker, Palacios, Vertonghen, Sandro, Walker etc. and it's clear where we succeed more in bringing the players who are likely to stay at us and 'do a job' for longer.
Baldini identified Benteke as the striker we needed to sign, but AVB wanted Soldado - although it's not unfeasible to believe that Benteke signing a new contract with Villa is the main reason AVB got the player he wanted.
I knew that it was one or the other, but I couldn't remember who'd got their way. No idea why the Belgian wasn't on other clubs' radars before he signed for Villa, anyway. There was a host of talented players coming through from them for a while before anyone really seemed to notice. They'll probably all overcompensate now and we'll have several leagues flood with substandard, lower-league Flemish "gems".
I wouldn't be surprised if so many clubs had their eyes on Lukaku and Hazard that Benteke slipped under the radar.
That's very accurate. I think one thing we did very badly was not to plan well for how to spend the money when Modric and Bale inevitably departed. The thing about our transfer strategy is that it will have the effects you describe but once in a while we will have a squad and a manager that can get us competing at the very top. The trouble is the sort of manager who can get an above average squad playing well (Harry) doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to keep that squad at the top. The Modric money was spent without a DoF and the Bale money was spent a few weeks into Baldini's tenure which is just a silly approach. I only wish we could have had Harry plus Baldini or Comolli or Arnesen and got the best of both worlds. Sure Harry would have been pissed off when we signed a young Eden Hazard instead of say Pienaar but I think we'd have been better off today
I don't think quite like that: those sort of players are obvious signings if you can play them alongside Modric, Bale, King and Van der vaart. The trouble is we don't have those any more. So if we signed those players now we are more or less guaranteed to fall in the table. I'd rather risk 7th or 8th to have a better chance of 4th by buying players like Alli and playing them.
I’ll quit ****ing with your language if you quit shooting our squirrels! Poor little American grey squirrel fellows ....they can’t help being bigger, stronger, faster and generally superior to their insular, cossetted English cousins...you only shoot them because they happen to be American... I picked AVB as an example not because I wish he were still here (I wish Levy hadn’t lost his projected key player both years he was here, but that’s another story) but because there’s an excellent case the club, and most PL clubs, twist too much and stick too little. It’s a remarkably sack-happy league, at least by American standards. I agree we should try sticking with Pochettino and see how that goes. At the very least, every year we stick with him should help us attract better candidates to replace him. As for the signings. I’d expect weaker clubs do better with their signings because they’re much likelier to slot them straight into their starting teams--and they tend to sign fewer players. I could be wrong on both counts, though, frankly. What I’m for is continuity. Fewer signings, fewer managers, get higher quality for each by being able to pay more. This window if we’d just addressed our two weaknesses by signing Cabaye at DM and Yarmolenko at RW, gotten a backup or two for Kane, and let the rest of the squad settle, we would have gotten it right, I think.
Good point. A hail of gunfire does make us feel right at home. Detroit’s motto is "Come back! We weren’t shooting at you!"
Grey bastards. I happen to live in one the few areas where red squirrels still survive. Greys will be shot and hung on a post this will be their last post. And now if that's not enough American ****ing crayfish have invaded the Clyde. MacDonalds grazing in the fields and KFC's blocking up the barns. Bloody colonies!
Not entirely convinced by their statement as they have Lambert/Berahino/Ideye/Rondon and Anichebe and while Berahino can play wide right, I doubt they planned to have five strikers and a lack of cover in defence, especially for a Pulis team. Unless we have underestimated West Brom and their ambitions for this season. Peace has openly tried to sell the club and if they keep their best players, while having an impressive season, this will increase the chances of finding a buyer.
I don't blame peace at all, we only have one striker and we need a striker so why west brom sell him for anything other than top wack, levy even playing silly buggers offering add ons and incentives. He probably could have got away with it in the the past but teams like west from don't need the money anymore, good for them for saying no.
A brief summary of Jeremy Peace's statement regarding Berahino: Saido Berahino is not for sale, and Spurs failed to meet our valuation Berahino has a lot of potential, yet we do not accept Spurs' bid being based on him fulfilling his potential over time We do not have time to replace Berahino with another striker, despite already signing Lambert and Rondon to replace Berahino
