Money for Players.

[spencer 1970 207]

It seems we are splashing the cash on players now which can''t be a bad thing.

One question (it isn''t a slur, just a question). Was this full purse given to PL? As if so, why did he leave? was it just all about the funds he had available?

I can''t help thinking its all a bit too late and smells of a panic.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,558]

Doesn''t suggest panic at all to me, most business in any transfer window happens in the last two weeks - just look at all the deals that were completed over the past few days. Bassong seems to be a move that was brewing for a while (with the number 5 shirt being left open for him) and Hughton has constantly said he is looking for additional players.

 

Personally I feel Lambert just wanted to move on - many managers talk about going stale if they stay at the same place too long and he wanted a new challenge, realising that to get Norwich higher than 12th this season would be almost impossible. He was at the crest of a wave so took the chance to take advantage of that and move on, Villa is a good project - can''t be much worse than last season and plenty of potential.

[fried_chicken 0]

I think that Lambert just decided to quit while he was ahead. We always had a lot of money to spend and we''re definately not panik buying. Most transfers usually go through late in the transfer window, especially when buying from other prem clubs. I also think that Lambert was given more money to spend than Hughton because I''d guess that we had to pay £4m ish for Hughton and his team as well as Dave Watson.

[Stig 0]

[quote user="spencer 1970"]It seems we are splashing the cash on players now which can''t be a bad thing.

One question (it isn''t a slur, just a question). Was this full purse given to PL? As if so, why did he leave? was it just all about the funds he had available?

I can''t help thinking its all a bit too late and smells of a panic.[/quote]

My only worry about buying these vastly different players is that because there isn''t a plethora of them the squad is very patch-work at the moment. What I mean by that is, the midfield was very much identified and developed by PL. The defence however is very much CH. The signings he is making is probably pretty clear in saying he IS going to be persistent with 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1 whatever you want to call it. So with this in mind, he probably needs a striker who fits his style. So if he get''s someone that can play his style well, does Holt then become the bench warmer?

I know many fans that would flip their sh*t if this were true. I''m just worried that that the majority of our squad can''t really play CH''s style very well - while the minority can.

I could be (and I hope I am) completely wrong. Saturday will be very telling, I just hope all this money has gone some way to helping us avoid results like last saturday. But then, that''s why I was (and am) always proud to be a NCFC fan... it''s never been about the money and the big name signings for us. Our spirit and depth of squad have always pulled us through.

Oh the times, they are a changing.

[Mr Brownstone 0]

Hughton''s budget will be the same as it was 4 weeks ago, which is the same as the budget Lambert would have had (well, slightly smaller because you''d assume Hughton''s compensation would have had to come out of that) before he left. McNally has stated on numerous occasions that every spare penny the club has goes into the manager''s playing budget. They won''t have made extra funds available as a result of what happened at Fulham, because quite simply, there aren''t any.

 

[Webbo118 0]

Word of the week? What else but PANIC !! I think a bandwagon has developed over panic !!

[Salopian 1]

The suggestion is that the budget this summer is higher than Lambert''s. If so, I have seen estimates of Lambert''s spending on signings last season as something like £14m in total, so CH must have something like £15m. This is not just for transfer fees but has to cover all the other things - signing on fees, agents, fees, etc.

 

Lambert, or the club presumably kept some back for January for Bennett, etc. I assume that CH will as well, to provide for any long term injuries. Was the signing of Bassong in panic? I suspect not, and I think that there are still some bargains to be had as clubs sort out which players will be in the 25 posted with the league. Bassong was not the only one far down the pecking order and unlikely to play very much. The problem is to find them.

 

CH has a better starting point because he has the benefit of any Lambert signings and is lacking any deadwood Lambert got rid of. We certainly have a larger effective squad, and it is possible to point to improvements such as Howson. Morison, Pilkington, Bennett, even if they adid actually perform well at Craven Cottage.

 

The crucial season is surely this one, with the debt reduced significantly and with larger broadcast fees, if we survive than this time next year we shall surely be able to sign players with proven ability rather than suspected potential. So I personally hope that the club looks still further to improve the depth, pace and skill of the team. Perhaps we have cover at CB, but we are thin at RB, and we have one of the weakest strike forces in the Premiership. (Some will take me to task and point out that we scored more goals than average in the Premiership, and my reply is that it was because we attacked in numbers, freeing the midfield to get forward. In fact collectively the midfield was the highest scorer!)

[Bill 1,788]

yes, the huge sums Paul Lambert has had to spend (and already spent) at Villa certainly points to why he left

 

elsewhere cynics are suggesting that he had another tantrum and when he met the board was told to close the door on his way out - hence the speed in which Hughton was appointed

 

it is ridiculous to claim that any spending now is due to a sudden change of heart - the statements have been pretty obvious, but as said elsewhere the transfer market is only now beginning to happen

 

if there is panic it is amongst those scrabbling around trying to find something to attack the club with - a win against QPR could leave them having to invent something to have a go with

 

City have risen from bottom of League 1 to 12th in the Premier League without a stop on the way - I''ve a funny feeling those running the club know what they are doing .......

 

 

 

........ likewise those attacking the club know what they are doing as well

 

 

 

 

[kellybrook 0]

" Was this full purse given to PL? As if so, why did he leave?"Yes of course it was the same amount of cash.He left for the blindingly obvious reason that he felt he had taken NCFC as far as he could.  We overachieved last season and it''s obvious to all but the panicking monkeys on here that is the case.This season is reality and coming up short against Fulham, a side most of you seem to have under-estimated, the previous three we rode on the crest of a wave created by one of the best young managers for a generation.He''s gone.  Reality is staying up by the skin of our teeth - whoever is in charge.