This is true, and yet they were bought for relative pittance (£4.5m, £3.5m and £9m respectively - all full internationals, 2 were league winners/CL qualified when we took them). Ben Arfa broke his leg whilst he was with us and that massively lowered his price, its been recently reported that we bought him for as little £2m. We'd already seen that he COULD play at this level (watch youtube highlights of him against Everton in his first game!) and for £2m what kind of gamble is that? And yeah, Santon is a bairn, but a bairn who had already played for Italy and was current captain for the U21s. Mourinho said he had the potential to be the next Maldini and anyone who's ever played FIFA or Football Manager had known all about him and his quality for years! At £4.5m, he was a gamble with incredible odds!
I have to say this is dumb. It's also pretty smug. Anyone who doesn't think that there's luck involved is off their heads. Look at the signings of established top players which haven't worked out. Veron to Man Utd for £28M springs to mind, but there's loads of others. You seriously saying that if "you've done your research properly" you eliminate risk altogether? Mental...
Not quite, but almost. The difference between us and teams like Man U is they have loads of money. They don't need to waste their time scouting someone for years. They see some potential, buy the players, and sometimes it doesn't work out. We can't afford to do that, so bide our time until we are sure. We have probably missed out on some players that would have been class and have ended up going to other clubs by doing that. Pretty simple really. Use your head for once mate instead of labelling other people smug and dumb just because you're too thick to figure something out for yourself
All I was saying is that not all foreign imports can hack the pl. No matter how well scouted they have been. It does however suggest that they have been managed very well regardless of individual circumstances.
sometimes even buying players from the same league wont work out, but if the players are scouted properlly for the team which you want, then it SHOULD work Not many other teams have 2 players which could replace any player in their team line up ( not always a good thing) but these players are always being looked at and scouted further to make sure they can still fit in to suit the team
There is risk involved with every transfer. That is fact. We were somewhat lucky in that Cabaye, Ba and Cisse settled straight away. We minimised the risk by scouting well alas risk certainly was there. There was even a risk in Sunderland ditching Bruce and going for O'Neill. Not all mid season managerial changes work. You guys could have just as easily plummeted farther down the league and been relegated! Anyway, this negates from Cests very positive post regarding Carr. The bloke has done well and in a results based business such as this, he deserves all the good things he gets/ words talked about him.
Arrogant. Smug. Certainly dumb. I won't bother with the thumbs up; other posters can judge what's what from the posts we've put up. As other mag posters have said, Cest put up a sensible, complimentary thread, but you couldn't just take it for what it was.
And in there, was a totally unfair criticism, so naturally I questioned it, that's what a forum is about. I have just explained why you are in error when comparing our transfers to the likes of Veron, and you reply with the same retort. I think that makes the words arrogant and smug far more applicable to you.
You think there's no luck involved in your recent buys. I think that's barmy (because there's always luck involved, like it or not) and I also thinks it's smug (becasue you're suggesting that your club is different to very other club in this respect). I stand by that and if you don't like it, that's life. Your retort was simply that I'm thick. I can't be arsed to get involved in a tit for tat over this, so feel free to have the last word and we'll let anybody who's interested (not many, I suspect) make their own minds up about who's what.
You used the insults first mate, I'm more than happy to leave them out, its only an internet forum I don't think it's smug because we ARE different to other clubs in that respect. I think we have proven to have the best scouting system in the league, ask fans of other clubs and I suspect they will agree. It wouldn't be smug of a Man City fan to say they are the best team in the League would it? And in terms of luck, of course there is always some luck involved, but for something to be "lucky" there has to be more luck involved than there would be with every other transfer, otherwise it's just normal
As ever the voice of reason and intelligence from the darkside. Can I just talk to you every time kidda? Lol. You got totally what I meant and it was complementary towards Carr who impressed me in his interview last night.
I agree you were being complementary in the main...but as with every NUFC post you make, there had to be a slight dig in there about our luck or our future downfall, surely you agree with that?
I dont "want" anything. But if something incorrect is said about my club, I'll questions it. A lot of people seem to have a problem with that
If the successful recent signings have been tracked since they were teenagers why not sign them for next to nothing. Laying out millions for a player that the sccout would come good seems expensive business to me.
Because if you scout a player for longer you can see how they develop, rather than seeing a young player with potential you actually get the chance and the time to see if that potential can turn into something. This is why the risk is minimized and why Carr is so invaluable to us. I have to say it's different seeing a complimentary NUFC related thread from Cest, but fair play to him and on the point of luck. Every signing has to have an element of luck, you can scout someone for years, know everything about their play but they just might not cut it in the premier league, it's just simple fact. However its nice to have the odds of that happening slashed with Carr doing what he does best. Chuffed about him signing the new deal.
I have few worries the gravy train will stop in terms of unearthing gems. He's just very good at his job. That seems unlikely to change. The set up at the club means his work won't be wasted because their integration and training is handled so much better than days gone by. We're just better run and reap the rewards. Moyes has had these kind of principles at Everton to keep them punching above their weight year on year. The 6 yr deal is a great chance for him to leave a long lasting legacy in the scouting department. He can continue to build the links, help train the other scouts so the success continues long after he's gone. Big thanks to Hughton.
