Our signings over the past four windows, especially looking at amounts paid out, have been excellent. People used to beat us with the "look at all the money you've spent" stick, but these days we seem to extract maximum value from our signings. People sometimes bemoan the lack of sporting director identifying transfer targets. But Levy and Redknapp have been largely good in this respect over the last two years.
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For the money we paid for Pienaar it's still not a bad deal. IMHO he is better that Jenas and we should get more that £2.5M for him. We know that Pienaar is a good player from the Everton days but it just seems like he is massively feeling the pressure on him now and he tries too hard in games.
Bentley must be our worst recent purchase.
Bentley must be our worst recent purchase.
Chimbonda 2nd time around was the worst recent purchase for me. Bentley played a role in getting us to 4th that season when he had a run of games.
re-signing Chimbonda and then hardly playing him was so dodgy.
I hate all the anti-Bentley feeling with most fans. Yes, he wasn't quite what we expected and yes we paid a large sum for him but that's not his fault. When he was given a prolonged spell on the right of midfield which is his preferred position he played very well. He played a bigger part in getting us 4th 2 seasons ago than Lennon because of his form and defensive abilities during the second half of that season which people seem to forget.
I'd rather have Lennon in the team but lets not forget having played well during that spell Lennon walked straight back into the team away to United even though he clearly wasn't fit and then Bentley didn't get a look in again even though Azza wasn't playing well. The only times he got to play was in CC games and more often than not was stuck out on the left which he wasn't comfortable in.
He didn't make it at Spurs and at times it was hard to support some of his actions, especially off the field and as a team we've improved past players like him but not all of it was down to him.
It's also one of the reasons why I believe Defoe, who's playing well at the moment shouldn't be dropped immediately when vdV returns to fitness. You have to earn your place in the team or the cover players will just stop bothering like Bentley did and that leaves you fucked and with no depth in the squad.
Rant over.
I hate all the anti-Bentley feeling with most fans. Yes, he wasn't quite what we expected and yes we paid a large sum for him but that's not his fault. When he was given a prolonged spell on the right of midfield which is his preferred position he played very well. He played a bigger part in getting us 4th 2 seasons ago than Lennon because of his form and defensive abilities during the second half of that season which people seem to forget.
I'd rather have Lennon in the team but lets not forget having played well during that spell Lennon walked straight back into the team away to United even though he clearly wasn't fit and then Bentley didn't get a look in again even though Azza wasn't playing well. The only times he got to play was in CC games and more often than not was stuck out on the left which he wasn't comfortable in.
He didn't make it at Spurs and at times it was hard to support some of his actions, especially off the field and as a team we've improved past players like him but not all of it was down to him.
It's also one of the reasons why I believe Defoe, who's playing well at the moment shouldn't be dropped immediately when vdV returns to fitness. You have to earn your place in the team or the cover players will just stop bothering like Bentley did and that leaves you fucked and with no depth in the squad.
Rant over.
Got to say that the recent attitude of keeping transfer fees in single-digit millions & rolling the dice has really annoyed me while the window has been open. However, as soon as it shuts, it becomes really obvious that spending big money wouldn't necessarily have improved our situation. I actually think that big fees mean a lot of pressure from us, the fans, to show how good you are immediately. For that reason alone I'm glad that we 'missed out' on Adam & on Carroll & even on Suarez.
Our recent (since the end of the 2008-9 season) smaller-fee signings (I'm talking less than £5 million) include Krancjar, Pienaar, Khumalo, Gallas, Friedel, Kyle Walker & Kyle Naughton. Not a bad set of outcomes for squad players, as someone mentioned above, especially when this is compared with higher-end signings (basically, more than £5 million) made in the season before that. These include Keane's resigning, Chimbonda, Palacios, Pavlyuchenko, Bentley, Dos Santos & Modric.
In the first group, Friedel has slotted straight into the first team & Naughton has matured into our first-choice right back. As well as that, we've gained squad players & reserves some of whom you feel for - Kranjcar is a class above many 'creative' players that get into the first XI of other teams in the Prem. In the second, we've got people who never proved to be worth their fee, some who shone brightly before being moved on, & Modric - one of the best players to wear the shirt in recent times (regardless of his lack of loyalty).
I think that we should be aiming to spend less than £10 million if we can, simply because it's what has worked for us in recent times. The teams around us spend crazy money on players that are very hit & miss, which has also been true for us. Van der Vaart, Parker, Sandro - three names that cost us less than £10 million but can drive us on.
Our recent (since the end of the 2008-9 season) smaller-fee signings (I'm talking less than £5 million) include Krancjar, Pienaar, Khumalo, Gallas, Friedel, Kyle Walker & Kyle Naughton. Not a bad set of outcomes for squad players, as someone mentioned above, especially when this is compared with higher-end signings (basically, more than £5 million) made in the season before that. These include Keane's resigning, Chimbonda, Palacios, Pavlyuchenko, Bentley, Dos Santos & Modric.
In the first group, Friedel has slotted straight into the first team & Naughton has matured into our first-choice right back. As well as that, we've gained squad players & reserves some of whom you feel for - Kranjcar is a class above many 'creative' players that get into the first XI of other teams in the Prem. In the second, we've got people who never proved to be worth their fee, some who shone brightly before being moved on, & Modric - one of the best players to wear the shirt in recent times (regardless of his lack of loyalty).
I think that we should be aiming to spend less than £10 million if we can, simply because it's what has worked for us in recent times. The teams around us spend crazy money on players that are very hit & miss, which has also been true for us. Van der Vaart, Parker, Sandro - three names that cost us less than £10 million but can drive us on.