There is something in what you say, and always 2 sides to a story but personally I think that's a tad harsh on Bruce, I like many felt that in our relegation season it wasn't so much the signings, on the positive side he did sign Daws, Robbo, Diame, Hernandez, Livermore , Maguire and Snodgrass, but our crippling injury problems especially up top, mid season that really hampered us. Last year, as he said the important thing was to keep rather than sign players and as **** as parts of the season were, he got us promoted again, job done.
He signed injury prone players, time and time again. And he didn't even recognise when there was something wrong with Livermore.
It's between this and th squad we had the back end of 13/14. Always been a big fan of Shane Long and wish we'd never sold him. It would depend on how some of these new signings get on but you may well be right.
According to the Sunday Mirror we were in for Cleverley from Everton on the last day of the window. Maybe that was a back up if we missed out on Henrikssen, as I can't see why we would need him otherwise.
The signings weren't up to scratch. It was the first time we signed players who seemed to disrupt the harmony in our squad. Players that we had to carry certainly can't help team spirit. Look at the players Phelan has brought in, they all seem to be hard working our team ethos is very clear. We lost that under Bruce in our relegation year. Plus it's debatable that the signings you mentioned were actually good. Diame, has a hell of a lot of ability but didn't help us and rewind 12 months and everyone wanted Hernandez gone. Signings in the PL have to make a pretty instant impact for us or it could be late. It is very easy to hide behind the injury problems and that was true to some degree but money was wasted on players we didn't use. Ince, Maguire, instantly spring to mind. It was the same in Bruce's final year. Clucas and Odubajo were great signings, but the rest were a complete waste.
Cleverley is a player Phelan would have known well from Man U. I wonder if he is appointed manager, if he'll head back to Man U for back room staff? How many did the Allams sack in the end? I can only assume they will all need replacing as a minimum.
I have a very good feeling about henrikson, watched some highlights of the 2012 Norway vs England game, he came in from the right and shot from about 25 yards, hit the post if I remember, greeny was in goal, no way was he getting to that... He looks very assured on the ball and seemed to be popping up on the left and the right... He was only 20 then I think but you could see he was a player....
That's the biggest bag of unsubstantiated ****e ever. Diame was superb n the relegation season scoring great goals and got injured in October was it? How could he help us after that?? Maguire wasn't a wasted signing as he's proved but he wasn't ready for the pl and no one would have picked him in front of Chester and Dawson. The complete wastes were bargain basement signings as we had no more money, just to fill out the squad. Don't you remember Bruce not being allowed to sign Gray?
Diame started incredibly well but he only lasted about 5 games or whatever it was. He looked a complete shadow of that player in all the other games he played for us last year. A kid with his ability shouldn't be playing anywhere near the FL or the bottom half of the PL really. But he's so inconsistent and you carry him for the majority of the time. Maguire has been a complete waste, he's never really had a sniff. He's had no luck at all as there's always been better players in front of him. Even this year, it looks like he'll get a shot and Livermore just happens to be a really good centre half. I think it was pretty clear even last year that the Allams didn't trust him to spend decent money on players anymore. Gray was the 1st example. He had just spent £10m on a kid who had made no impact at that time.
You said Diame was a waste in the PL season. He wasnt. He was excellent and then suffered an horrific injury. A shadow in all the other games??? You really didnt see him then did you. If he hadnt have been returning from injury someone would have signed him beginning of last season. Maguire hasnt been a waste at all. He's a squad player with the chance to force himself into the team, and he's played well when he has done. What are you saying? We should only have back ups that are ****? He cost 2 million, thats nothing in todays market. The money was refused. Bruce was fuming. It would have been an excellent signing. It wasnt "pretty clear" at all the Allams didnt trust him. We hadm to cut back our expenditure. Nothing more.
I never said Diame was a waste, I said that carrying a player isn't great for team spirit. I've seen Diame plenty thank you. I don't understand why everyone's become Diame lovers, most on here wanted him dropped for large chunks of last season. It's all ifs buts and maybes. Don't you think it's funny how no PL tea came in for Diame? Maguire has been a complete waste. A player with that much potential should not be allowed to just rot on our bench for 2 years, it does his development no good whatsoever. I actually don't care what he cost, prices have inflated so much since it's difficult to compare. £2m back then is probably worth £4/5m now. I'm probably one of the biggest advocates for bringing youth through but I actually want them to play instead of just sitting on the bench. Tbh I aren't a fan of buying backups, when you think of it, it's quite a pointless exercise. I would rather purchase players that will improve us and then our current players will become the back ups as such and you still improve your squad. Until the accounts come out for last year, it's difficult to know. Would we have been within the FFP limits?
