Leicester have spent similar to us when we had Roy keane.. In fact Pearson hasn't spent a lot in the past 18 months which is what I was alluding too. No one has "Splashed the cash" as you say that is in a similar position to us Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton all parachute payments. Huddersfield & Brighton have sold off some good players so reinvestment Bournemouth, Yeovil... Really? hardly a well publicized overspend Forest and Boro are again going through what we did a few years ago.. In fact I would argue that taking a cross section of Championship clubs and assessing spend vs transfer/Premier league income we would be near the top over the past 5 years.. We have had 18 baron months on the transfer front and all of a sudden we're doomed. It is swings and roundabouts and I'm sure that we will once again be spending some money soon.. and some other team will be moaning about there lack of money
KOPR This is surely no way to run a football club! Evans splashed the cash and has now decided to go in the opposite direction and spend nothing at all. He is supposed to be a successful businessman but it looks increasingly likely that we are just being used as a vehicle to offset his TAX liablilities. While other clubs are strengthening year on year we are going in the opposite direction and yet the fans still expect us to compete! You cant have it all ways I'm afraid!
Warky - i'm pretty sure you have, in the past, slated PJ and RK for spending too much cash on dross players and ex-prem mercinaries - and now you are saying ME needs to get his cheque book out. Doesn't that strike you as contradictory? I've said it a couple of times now, but i actually lay a lot of blame onto the shoulders of our alleged scouts. I mean, what are they actually getting paid for? Why can't they find these gems from foreign shores? There must hundreds, if not thousands, of players out there in Europe who would enhance our team.
It's not about how much money is spent, it's getting the right player in - regardless if he costs £3m or was free.
Spending cash and then not spending anything is what I am on about and there must be the right balance! Thanks to RK and PJ we now find ourselves in this mess! On the scouting front it takes a great deal of time to pick up these gems and you cant expect after just 18 months for Mick to suddenly produce a whole conveyor belt of talent! It saddens me really that you are desperately grasping around for any stick to beat Mick with when you should be directing your anger at Evans and his rank incompetence over the past 5 years!
That I agree with.. But the point I am making is that so are a lot of other sides.. We spent a large fortune 5 years ago.. others are still spending theirs as they weren't as frivolous as us.. Exactly! And as has been pointed out, you (among others, myself very much included) were incredibly criticle of the money wasted under RK, PJ and ME... with all of them culpable to the blame. Now to say we need to go back to "splash the cash" doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.. As stretch points out. It's about getting the right players rather than the money spent.
But I am not saying that we should be "Splashing The Cash"! All I am saying is that we need SOME sensible investment in the areas that need strengthening! A couple of million will be plenty in my opinion. I am not saying that we should let rip again but we do need some cash if we are going to compete with the stronger teams!
The thing is you can get creativity in on the cheap - McGoldrick has proved that for us hasnt he. In MM's defence we were conceding stupid goal after stupid goal before his arrival so stopping the rot and getting in the players to tighten us up was what was required and what has been done. Our lack of finances means we couldnt go out and buy everything that we needed. Nouble I dont like currently but 25k for a player with upper league level experience is surely a gamble worth taking. Taylor was not a MM signing and hasnt helped himself with his off field matters. Young Marriott is being given the opportunity to get serious game time at a lower level rather than a 5 or 10 minute spell here and there at this level (and remembering our reserve level games are bascially worthless) If you look at Hunt and Anderson in the not to distant past then there is definate creativity there. Also to be fair to MM we are there or thereabouts where we were expecting to be this season so is it a question of creativity or is it a question of entertaining football at PR?
I think we've all got to be delighted in what Mick has achieved with us in 18 months so far. Of that I personally believe there can be little doubt. I'm HOPING with another summer of signings, the style of play may well improve next season with some flair wide men added, with the jigsaw more complete. I'm more than happy to give Mick until around December this year time before I will start slating him severley! I guess I'm just so pleased after the Keane/Jewell era that we're moving forward as a club, and I have my club back! No longer are we ' Roy Keane's ' Ipswich for example. Also, I think fans/ board of ALL clubs are WAY TOO impatient these days, and people need to be extremely careful what they wish for..... If the style of play has to be un- Ipswich like for a while, then so be it. We played superb football under Jewell at times, however had such a weak underbelly 88 minutes good work was undone rapidly. Also, I'm in Thailand so haven't been treated to any of the " awful " style people have mentioned. I confess I didn't enjoy watching us at the Madejski first game. I saw us v Leeds (H), and QPR (H) online. Both games I thought we were superb in large spells the opening 45 minutes. That's not to say I agree with everything Mick does as manager - see my other post with Green RW etc..... For sure, he's open to criticism as is any manager.
You CANNOT count Yeovil in that bracket - that's hilarious!!!!!!!!!! £1 million wage budget for the squad Yeovil Town....!
Mick leaving now would be distrous, Mick leaving in the summer would mean we start the roundabout of getting a new managers team in once again. I would prefer him not to leave. BUT The negative selections and tactics do frustrate me. The league table over the course of the season doesn't lie but we've only managed 10 points since the start of the year and have a negative goal difference. Something somewhere needs to change and I really hope it's the dropping of Nouble, we can't be half way through a season and still be waiting for him to produce. Nouble 3 Goals in 31 appearances, Taylor 1 Goal in 15 appearances, Anderson 3 goals in 16 Appearances. None of them are fantastic but clearly Nouble seems favoured for no obvious reason and Anderson shows a lot more effectivness, matching Noubles contribution in half the appearences.
Mick keeps going on about how the players train. Has he never considered that people may just be a bit pissed off that they train hard all week and get nothing for it. I'm not saying that it is the right attitude but have you ever been in a situation (work or relationship) where you are trying your hardest but don't get recognition. It can get to the point where you start thinking "**** this, what's the point"
I'd love to Spanish We've actually got along of late, when are we having this first date!? Ha Mick certainly deserves criticism just like any other for sure! Still very pleased with how things have gone so far. Check this out.... http://www.leaguemanagers.com/managers/longest-current.html If this is smack bang accurate, some how Mick is the 33rd longest serving manager in the football league. What a sorry state of affairs football has become. Managers are expected to walk on water instantly or it's simply not good enough. Hell, going by this, should Mick see out next season with us, he could be in the top 10................. Expectation is just sky high! The following comparisons to Ferguson/ Robson, please don't misinterpret and believe I think Mick can have such a ridiculously amazing era with us. Times have changed etc. However, if the fans had gotten their way, both would have been sacked and them eras would have never taken place. So long as I believe we're progressing as a club, on AND off the field, then Tony Blair ( sub human scum ) would have my backing. I'm also proud how we as a club stick by our managers. We've had so few in our history, I'm so glad we've never had a Manderic behind the scenes, and having 3/4 managers some seasons. Magilton was a little bit different in that we had cash, and instant success was expected. However, look how we stuck by Keane ( how many clubs would have after 14 games/ bottom/ winless ) and also Jewell for such a prolonged period of time.
