Were we ?
Yeah I'd say so. We'd stolen the French market, had a few success stories and bought players that shouldve been beyond us. Cabaye, Marveaux, Ben Arfa and Ba were bargains. I felt like our transfer strategy was the best thing about the club (except the fans). But not anymore.
You said this time last year though. This time last year we bought Anita and Bigi.
Our reluctance to invest in a squad that had punched well above its weight the previous season was a major reason last season was such a disaster.
It was a major reason, yeah. The one weakness the club showed last summer was stubbornness in negotiations (De Jong) but in general the strategy was still working and still producing bargains. We went on to prove this again with Debuchy, Sissoko, Haidara, Gouffran and MYM. What's happened now is that other PL clubs have twigged on and are raiding countries like Spain and Holland, whilst we persist with France. We're not ahead of the curve anymore.