I'll compare our transfer dealings with who I like, thank you very much. I don't need you to tell me who I should compare with. As it happens it might have been better if we spent £150m, if that extra £50m had got us another striker, another LB, another goalkeeper and another CB.
So what size exactly is our club? I thought we were about the 6th biggest in the country - how comes we end up with a lop-sided squad? Why did we miss out on various players that AVB wanted? Why didn't we get in more Prem proven players? We let go a lot of Prem-proven/young English talent this summer permanently or on loan
Bale Hudd Carroll Caulker BAE Livermore Smith IIRC, maybe more
Each individual sale/loan had logic behind it - but it didn't work so far did it? Maybe we should have spent the same, but kept a few more and did some 'net spend' that way?
Also ENIC's 'zero net spend' approach is nothing new. It's not as if it's just this summer.
ENIC have hardly invested any of their own money in this club over the past 13 years, using the fans' money instead. That approach has brought us one Lge Cup in that time - it's not good enough, for me at least.
Greaves, it was not meant in an aggressive manner, you're response suggests that's how you took it :adebaehug:
My point was that our transfer dealings are, in my view, incomparable to Hull's, Palace's etc. They are on two completely different scales. The NET spend's might be similar, but the figures in and out are worlds apart.
I don't know who we could have spent an extra £50m on. We had enough change as it was, without additional bodies in. Had Ade been fit/not exiled, we'd have had enough strikers for our one-man up top system. And against what I though originally, it is clear to see loaning out BAE was a huge mistake, but we have enough players on the books to compete.
6th biggest sounds about right to me. Lop-sided squad? Sure, it isn't perfect, but Man Utd are one of the biggest clubs in the world, and they have had Cleverley & Jones playing in midfield recently in Carrick's absence. I wouldn't have either of those two in our team, or even on the bench. It's not all rosy for everyone else. It's easy to make it seem like we're the only one's with any problems.
Why did we miss out on players? No club gets every target they go for. That is life I'm afraid. Part and parcel of football. I know you have a disliking for ENIC so I'm sure you feel it is their fault and they should have spent what they had to to get AVB's targets, but that would be irresponsible on their part. We are not Man City, we have to be sensible with our money.
Prem-proven players notoriously cost far more. Look at Benteke & Lukaku - they're worth far more than they were previously. Plus teams are always wary of selling to their rivals, so prices inflate. You'll do well to find a bargain in the Prem.
We couldn't hold onto Bale. Hudd & Livermore aren't 'proven', or not at the level we now find ourselves. Smith is still an unknown. Caulker was an odd sale, but maybe he wanted guaranteed first team football and we didn't oblige? Carroll's loan I agree with. Our midfield is packed and he needs regular football to continue his development.
Agree that we could have kept some players and spent less - but hindsight is a wonderful thing! I do think our signings will come good though.
I'd be interested to see some figures as I can't see how ENIC haven't spent a large amount of their money. We have spent fortunes in recent years, and not sold half as many players as we've bought.
