Duncan Edwards 2,219 Posted November 1, 2015 Edited version should go up tomorrow:https://duncanedwards8.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/are-the-ghosts-of-2013-still-haunting-us-ncfc/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katie Borkins 1 Posted November 1, 2015 Well argued and probably true but the wage ceiling is still the wage ceiling and for my money (ho ho) this is still the biggest challenge to us signing *proven* quality.Obviously any signing is a risk (John O''Neil, anyone?) but when they have a proven record in a comparable league, the risk is reduced. Problem being we can''t pay the wage for a proven CB and even if we can, other clubs in a similar plight can usually pay more.Therefore we are stuck with gambles on foreign players or lower league signings and hoping they can develop. Sometimes it works, sometimes we get RvW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duncan Edwards 2,219 Posted November 1, 2015 You have a point with the wage ceiling, in the case of Van Dijk (I''m taking a leap of faith here that he was one of the targets I mentioned as I don''t know names), you''d have to imagine that Southampton could offer more money and were a more attractive proposition given that we were newly promoted.However, there''s part of me that thinks if we didn''t have some of the players we retained and their wages were available to the pool that not only would we have been willing to break our transfer record but also our top-whack too. There''s also a part of me that thinks should a scout/manager/bloke down the pub approach the board and say "XYZ is available for £10m, he could take us to the next level for £50kpw..." enormous neon WOLF signs flash in the boardroom to the sound of air raid sirens. I just don''t think that our huge waste of cash in 2013 coupled with the fact we then had to go out and buy a new strike force again while retaining the previous one can be ignored when we look at apparent shortcomings this summer. If we stay up this year, it will be very interesting to see our spend policy next summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katie Borkins 1 Posted November 2, 2015 I would agree that we spent 20m plus wages on some awful signings and we have bought better and smarter from the Champs etc. Of course we can only say that with hindsight and had people done their jobs properly (scouts,coaches, manager) then it should not have been the case. Maybe the Brady saga is an example of how we will do business now, dragging it out to get absolutely the "best" price. Problem again is every delay in the deal lets other clubs come sniffing around. Am glad we got Brady but we could have lost him, I suspect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0 Posted November 2, 2015 How did "dragging it out " give us "the best price" ? We ended up paying top dollar anyway ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katie Borkins 1 Posted November 2, 2015 What do you base that assertion on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
