Simple semantics - I was stating that he has already subscribed to that point of view. So, can we conclude from your post that you currently believe it was the better choice to go for a 'proven' striker at a slightly inflated rate to an 'unknown prospect', or are you just asking the question at this stage?
Let's get this straight Nick - I'm not standing in RR's corner on this one. He has his thoughts about Diony (right or wrong) and I'm talking about the general principle. I don't believe and haven't said Madine "was the better choice" - I simply don't know and have already said that only time will tell on that one. The only thing I'm trying to get across is that now you have got yourself into an excellent top 6 slot at the New Year, it makes sense to maximise your chances of staying there and going up - that's of course unless you are only building for next season.
I just asking for your opinion on the very question you've posed. If you say you want to wait and see, then that's fine, if you want to commit to one side or the other, that's fine too. Pushed into a decision, I guess I'd rather go for the 'unknown quantity' for us in our specific situation at this specific time. The reasoning being, we already have some good strikers, so if we were willing to pay a sizeable sum for a striker, it should be an improvement on them. It would be crazy to break our transfer record for someone who would be on the bench when everyone else was fit. We did sniff around Hugill from Preston, but I'm not sure I'd rate him a £10m striker and he went to West Ham anyway, so wouldn't have chosen us over them. Then, who else is there that we could have gotten? Also, for a club of our stature to achieve something greater than our 'par' (i.e. win promotion), we need to take risks. Larger teams might feel a need to go for 'proven quality' because their expectation levels are so much higher, they don't feel they can afford to take those risks, but that 'proven' tag comes with a significant mark-up and doesn't 100% guarantee success either. For us, signing a player who typically is likely to turn in 6 or 7 out of 10 performances isn't likely to have a big enough impact to be the difference between us achieving something special or not, whereas signing someone who might return 4 or 5 out of 10 one week but 8,9 or even 10 out of 10 the next might be enough to do it, if we're lucky. Ironically, taking a risk gives us a bigger chance of achieving our goals than going 'safe' on someone who isn't likely to improve us much.
I'd like to think that any signing we ever make, January or not, has more than just the next 4 months in mind.
True, though being in with a chance of promotion might mean you're willing to pay a bit more for that immediate impact...
Nick - no idea of any figures but I take it Diony didn't come cheap - maybe a loan fee and at least matching his contract wages for the loan period? It's like leasing anything - you have it for a period and then hand it back. If no "future value" is agreed at the initiation of the lease and you want to keep him, you'll pay market prices if he comes good. If it doesn't come off you walk away no sweat. The trouble will be if he doesn't come off, there'll be enough on here beside RR saying Johnson missed the boat. If he does come off and you get autos or at least the playoffs, Johnson will be hailed - that's life in football management. Madine is no world beater by any means but he was the sort of player we were missing up front and was bought for a purpose. Sink or swim, we've paid good money for him - too good many of us think - but it's been done and he's ours to sell if it doesn't work out. We're no exceptions to the "loan" principle either. As well as buying Madine in January we actually took Wildschut, Grujic, Jamie Ward and Armand Traore all on loan but they were for tactical reasons in positions we already had covered. Up front we were struggling badly. Goals from out wide from Hoilett and Mendez, and through the middle from midfielders Ralls and Paterson have papered over the "striker deficit" until now. With Madine on board we just hope we've now got the right blend to keep us up there.
But this is where I find the argument to be a bit of a non-sense - how many signings can you think of where you knew the short term-ism is warranted? Even massive big money signings take time to settle in. It's almost impossible to judge whether a signing will certainly make an immediate impact.
You got a better chance if a guy is in form,than a guy that is not. Rob. We seem to have signed a player that might come good,but on the other hand he may not.We need a player for now,not for the possible future.
Of course it's impossible to be certain, but it could be deemed more likely that someone who has done it is a better option than taking someone who might. There's no doubt that Diony may adapt and settle quickly into the groove, but it's probably more likely that someone already in it could be a better option. If you're talking about "one for the future" then he could be a decent shout....................but this is all about now.
I'd suggest a 'tried and trusted' signing offers a better chance of succeeding, but as you say, not a guarantee. Here's an example of a pair of signings, one of which had had a storming start to his Premiership, and another with no experience of English football... please log in to view this image
Somewhat embarrassing, but here's another who had no experience of English football......... please log in to view this image
Ah yes, I remember him! I seem to remember Jon Dahl Tomasson struggling at Newcastle, but then doing rather well at AC Milan to! Goes to show how random football can seem.
Exactly, Torres is a glorious example as well. A tried and tested, proven Premier League striker from Liverpool who would surely give Chelsea what they were missing. It just seems a daft argument to me to compare Madine and Diony. Different types of players, different expectations, and completely different situations, seeing as Cardiff needed a top striker, whereas we needed an extra striker, not necessarily a top one.
Rob - are you on the plot mate? I'm not comparing two individuals at all, only the principle of bringing in known/unknown quantities for an important run in to a season.
Don't you think EVERY club is looking for a striker that's on the button, that will hit the ground running? You don't just pluck them from thin air RR, not on our budget.. A tad delusional I think mate!!
Whatever else LJ is, he isn't stupid. Even during his playing days (when I crucified him) it was plain to see he had/has a 'football brain'. If LJ sees something in Diony then I'm more than happy to trust him. FFS, Diony's only been here 5 minutes.
