Rate our summer transfer window

[Heron]

Anyone can manipulate the signings to say what they want really.

 

Enrique vs Santon = Enrique

 

Barton and Routledge vs Obertan = Barton and Routledge

Barton vs Obertan = Barton

Routledge vs Obertan = Obertan

 

Barton vs Abeid = Barton

Routledge vs Abeid = Abeid

 

Nolan vs Cabaye = Cabaye (only just though, as both have their individual qualities)

Barton vs Cabaye = Cabaye (as above)

Routledge vs Cabaye = Cabaye (because he is clearly a better footballer all round)

 

Nolan vs Marvaeux = Nolan (so far)

Barton vs Marvaeux = Barton (so far)

Routledge vs Marvaeux = Draw (Marvaeux being the more likely winner after more game time)

 

Carroll vs Ba = Carroll (more potential and a Geordie who was number 9. Not quite as injury prone)

Carroll plus an International class striker vs Ba = Carroll plus 1 (undoubtedly)

International class striker vs Ba = International class striker

The release of Kuqi and Campbell leaves us two players down on last season, therefore 2 additional 'squad' players need to be added. It could be argued that Ferguson, Ameobi and Vuckic are all making that step up, so we're arguably stronger again in midfield/up front. In reality though, these players should be fringe players getting loaned out for a year then coming back to the first team set up.

 

Obviously the above is all up for debate. All I'm getting at is that anyone can say such and such was for Cabaye to suit their own argument, but it doesn't make it true. It's not quite that basic.

 

We're in a similar position regarding squad depth as last season, but we had £35million extra. In 7months of knowing what would be required we have been incapable of filling the gaps and inadequacies in our squad. I work in a printers, and if we had a press that kept breaking down it would make sense to buy a new one that runs smoothly...why? Because it improves customer satisfaction when jobs get out on time, and therefore more customers come to you for a service. 42,000 last week, plus maybe 3,000 extra away fans (so we'll say 45,000) is 7,000 less than what we could have got. That says something about customer satisfaction to me, when 52,000 attendances were apparent in the Championship and throughout our relegation season. We needed to make additions, not just replacements, end of.

[NG32]

Anyone can manipulate the signings to say what they want really.

 

Enrique vs Santon = Enrique

 

Barton and Routledge vs Obertan = Barton and Routledge

Barton vs Obertan = Barton

Routledge vs Obertan = Obertan

 

Barton vs Abeid = Barton

Routledge vs Abeid = Abeid

 

Nolan vs Cabaye = Cabaye (only just though, as both have their individual qualities)

Barton vs Cabaye = Cabaye (as above)

Routledge vs Cabaye = Cabaye (because he is clearly a better footballer all round)

 

Nolan vs Marvaeux = Nolan (so far)

Barton vs Marvaeux = Barton (so far)

Routledge vs Marvaeux = Draw (Marvaeux being the more likely winner after more game time)

 

Carroll vs Ba = Carroll (more potential and a Geordie who was number 9. Not quite as injury prone)

Carroll plus an International class striker vs Ba = Carroll plus 1 (undoubtedly)

International class striker vs Ba = International class striker

The release of Kuqi and Campbell leaves us two players down on last season, therefore 2 additional 'squad' players need to be added. It could be argued that Ferguson, Ameobi and Vuckic are all making that step up, so we're arguably stronger again in midfield/up front. In reality though, these players should be fringe players getting loaned out for a year then coming back to the first team set up.

 

Obviously the above is all up for debate. All I'm getting at is that anyone can say such and such was for Cabaye to suit their own argument, but it doesn't make it true. It's not quite that basic.

 

We're in a similar position regarding squad depth as last season, but we had £35million extra. In 7months of knowing what would be required we have been incapable of filling the gaps and inadequacies in our squad. I work in a printers, and if we had a press that kept breaking down it would make sense to buy a new one that runs smoothly...why? Because it improves customer satisfaction when jobs get out on time, and therefore more customers come to you for a service. 42,000 last week, plus maybe 3,000 extra away fans (so we'll say 45,000) is 7,000 less than what we could have got. That says something about customer satisfaction to me, when 52,000 attendances were apparent in the Championship and throughout our relegation season. We needed to make additions, not just replacements, end of.

 

We blanaced the books and turned a profit.  Its all ok.  We dont need a striker, none were avaialble.

[Mugatu]

This transfer window has reminded me of an episode of Location Location Location where the daft couple look round 50 different houses make the odd stupidly low offer only to announce at the end of the programme they're decided not to buy anything.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

i rate most of the players we signed - but that doesn't make up for the lack of more signings

 

our four most important players of last season (debatable i know - but enrique, barton, carroll and nolan did make great contributions) are sold. and we cannot forget that without the goals of carroll and nolan we would have been relegated - and i am not sure who is going to take over - double ameobi?

 

I'm confident that one of Ba or Best will score more for us this seasson than Carroll did last season (if for no other reason than they will have twice a smany games to do so!). I guess we need one of them to outscore the Carroll/Best combined total though.

 

Nolan scored in 9 games last season, if you look at the games where his goal(s) that game were the difference between the two teams we would have had 5 points less (very crude I know and there is more to consider in those games....) I'd be looking for the Obertan/Marvaeux combination to replicate Nolan and Bartons contribution in terms of goals.

 

I guess I'm less worried about where the goals will come from, I think we will see quite a spread from our players this year, but more how will the engine room work. As long as Cabaye continues as he has started and Tiote quickly gets up to speed we will have a decent season (imo of course)

[Heron]

Anyone can manipulate the signings to say what they want really.

 

Enrique vs Santon = Enrique

 

Barton and Routledge vs Obertan = Barton and Routledge

Barton vs Obertan = Barton

Routledge vs Obertan = Obertan

 

Barton vs Abeid = Barton

Routledge vs Abeid = Abeid

 

Nolan vs Cabaye = Cabaye (only just though, as both have their individual qualities)

Barton vs Cabaye = Cabaye (as above)

Routledge vs Cabaye = Cabaye (because he is clearly a better footballer all round)

 

Nolan vs Marvaeux = Nolan (so far)

Barton vs Marvaeux = Barton (so far)

Routledge vs Marvaeux = Draw (Marvaeux being the more likely winner after more game time)

 

Carroll vs Ba = Carroll (more potential and a Geordie who was number 9. Not quite as injury prone)

Carroll plus an International class striker vs Ba = Carroll plus 1 (undoubtedly)

International class striker vs Ba = International class striker

The release of Kuqi and Campbell leaves us two players down on last season, therefore 2 additional 'squad' players need to be added. It could be argued that Ferguson, Ameobi and Vuckic are all making that step up, so we're arguably stronger again in midfield/up front. In reality though, these players should be fringe players getting loaned out for a year then coming back to the first team set up.

 

Obviously the above is all up for debate. All I'm getting at is that anyone can say such and such was for Cabaye to suit their own argument, but it doesn't make it true. It's not quite that basic.

 

We're in a similar position regarding squad depth as last season, but we had £35million extra. In 7months of knowing what would be required we have been incapable of filling the gaps and inadequacies in our squad. I work in a printers, and if we had a press that kept breaking down it would make sense to buy a new one that runs smoothly...why? Because it improves customer satisfaction when jobs get out on time, and therefore more customers come to you for a service. 42,000 last week, plus maybe 3,000 extra away fans (so we'll say 45,000) is 7,000 less than what we could have got. That says something about customer satisfaction to me, when 52,000 attendances were apparent in the Championship and throughout our relegation season. We needed to make additions, not just replacements, end of.

 

We blanaced the books and turned a profit.  Its all ok.  We dont need a striker, none were avaialble.

 

Aye - I'm glad the moving of my season ticket to somewhere I don't want to sit, for extra cash and the £15 membership for some cheap chat has contributed to the balancing too. Fucking overwhelmed. Disrespectful twats.

[ShearMagic]

Not going to give a rate coz i can´t.

 

Obertan

Cabaye

Santon

Ba

(Elliot)

Abeid

(am i missing someone?)

 

All (obertan, cabaye, Ba & Santon) all look like good signings....bought for impressively few punds. They should all be able to achieve great things here.

 

BUT all these signings have more or less been financed by the sale of Nolan, Jose and Barton (wages). Its shows us that the 35 mill from Caroll definitely have not been reinvested in the team. So i guess this is the way Mike will runs things until he either sales or have made enough money to pay us fans a little back and invest in a team that can challenge top 4.

 

OUTGOINGS. i know it takes time....but i think its a failure we didn´t manage to get rid of players like smith, Løvenkrands and maybe even perch, ameobi, guthrie etc. These players only take up squad space and their present means that pardew will pick players like smith or Løvenkrands when he should pick Abeid or Vuckic for example.

 

We are getting close, very close to an exciting starting 11, but we really really lack depth. an injury in defends, midfield and attack at the same time will show how vulnerable we are. already our attack is a bit of a joke....cant believe we couldn´t find someone when it was our main mission this window....at least i thought it was. BA, ok....but enough!

 

well...i was hoping for and believed we could aim for 6-7st place but i find it very difficult now.

 

We had a good start lets build on that and maybe we will find us in a good position comes winther. 3 good results without playing good at all, wow!!!

 

i still believe in a top 10 finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You do realise that to sell players, there has to be a buying party?

[NG32]

This transfer window has reminded me of an episode of Location Location Location where the daft couple look round 50 different houses make the odd stupidly low offer only to announce at the end of the programme they're decided not to buy anything.

 

Yep does my head in that show.

[Guest levi914]

transfer window was a 3 for me. players we got in was great. but wanted that striker. would of made it a 6/10 if we got ruiz or cisse and if barton stayed would of been an 8. i hope leon best can be that striker newcastle have needed since andy carroll left.

[Guest Stephen927]

Losing Barton and our failure to sign a striker mean this has been a disappointing window. It's a shame, we have got a real quality player in Cabaye, I just don't think we have the players up front to maximise his abilities.

 

I don't think January will be any more fruitful for the striker search. The main hope has been put on Ba improving dramatically and Ben Arfa staying fit.

 

 

[Guest Roger Kint]

5 - Did well to set up the base for a good squad in the signings we made but the abject failure(refusal) to push through key additions has left us 2/3 players short, one of them a vital area we were promised would be addressed. For all its promise it has been a bit of a shambles to be honest. An injury to Colo or either of our CM's and we look distictly average.

[sugoinufc]

Not going to give a rate coz i can´t.

 

Obertan

Cabaye

Santon

Ba

(Elliot)

Abeid

(am i missing someone?)

 

All (obertan, cabaye, Ba & Santon) all look like good signings....bought for impressively few punds. They should all be able to achieve great things here.

 

BUT all these signings have more or less been financed by the sale of Nolan, Jose and Barton (wages). Its shows us that the 35 mill from Caroll definitely have not been reinvested in the team. So i guess this is the way Mike will runs things until he either sales or have made enough money to pay us fans a little back and invest in a team that can challenge top 4.

 

OUTGOINGS. i know it takes time....but i think its a failure we didn´t manage to get rid of players like smith, Løvenkrands and maybe even perch, ameobi, guthrie etc. These players only take up squad space and their present means that pardew will pick players like smith or Løvenkrands when he should pick Abeid or Vuckic for example.

 

We are getting close, very close to an exciting starting 11, but we really really lack depth. an injury in defends, midfield and attack at the same time will show how vulnerable we are. already our attack is a bit of a joke....cant believe we couldn´t find someone when it was our main mission this window....at least i thought it was. BA, ok....but enough!

 

well...i was hoping for and believed we could aim for 6-7st place but i find it very difficult now.

 

We had a good start lets build on that and maybe we will find us in a good position comes winther. 3 good results without playing good at all, wow!!!

 

i still believe in a top 10 finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You do realise that to sell players, there has to be a buying party?

 

true. but i still believe you could tell some players that they are not part of the plan....

[themanupstairs]

i rate most of the players we signed - but that doesn't make up for the lack of more signings

 

our four most important players of last season (debatable i know - but enrique, barton, carroll and nolan did make great contributions) are sold. and we cannot forget that without the goals of carroll and nolan we would have been relegated - and i am not sure who is going to take over - double ameobi?

 

I'm confident that one of Ba or Best will score more for us this seasson than Carroll did last season (if for no other reason than they will have twice a smany games to do so!). I guess we need one of them to outscore the Carroll/Best combined total though.

 

Nolan scored in 9 games last season, if you look at the games where his goal(s) that game were the difference between the two teams we would have had 5 points less (very crude I know and there is more to consider in those games....) I'd be looking for the Obertan/Marvaeux combination to replicate Nolan and Bartons contribution in terms of goals.

 

I guess I'm less worried about where the goals will come from, I think we will see quite a spread from our players this year, but more how will the engine room work. As long as Cabaye continues as he has started and Tiote quickly gets up to speed we will have a decent season (imo of course)

 

I might agree. Ba, Best and Shola are decent finishers, provided they are given a steady supply of clear cut chances. For that to happen, the midfield behind them must be up to the task. It is now up to Pardew to justify the club's failure to bring in a mobile forward by devising a game plan that really does change the way we have played the past few seasons. We can't be lumping the ball up to the strikers all game long, as you need a quality center forward to make things happen for you (Shearer, Carroll), and we don't have anywhere near that. We've now bought continental players, and Pardew must make sure we play continental football for it to work. We, and AP, better hope and pray it works.

[Ginola]

6. The signings we made have all been good ones imo, however we failed to get a CB or striker in. If we'd brought in players for those positions I'd have been very happy. As it stands I'm pretty much content.

[Guest CheickMansour]

Really could have established ourself as a geneuine top 7-9 club with a little more wise investment IMO. One where finishing outside the top 10 is really not good enough. Instead, although some signings look promising, we've settled for what appears to be the minimum. I know people will argue 'well what's the point of aimng fr 7th as long as we stay' from the boards pont of view but that just shows what a sorry state it is. We're no longer about finishing as high as we can, we appear happy to be a Wigan type and just preserve our PL status.

 

People have also argued well x, y & z haven't spent money. To me that should have been even more of an incentive for us to do so, to really make up some ground or put daylight between us and other teams. We can't base ourselves on what others are or arent doing we hav o maximise our own chances of doingthe best that we possibly can and I don't think we've done that.

 

I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

 

Exactly. This could be the weakest PL for a while, and therefore a golden opportunity to progress. It's a shame we haven't taken it.

 

For me, this window was 5/10 - we signed some good players but also sold some of our best and most influential. Our squad hasn't really improved, in my opinion, except in the midfield area. I'm hopeful that some of our signings can push us on, but this depends on whether they settle in quickly. Unfortunately, we've sold many of the 'characters' in our dressing room, so it may take longer to integrate them than it would have otherwise.

 

Hopefully some of our youth - Krul, Sameobi, Vuckic - really come through this season.

[themanupstairs]

Really could have established ourself as a geneuine top 7-9 club with a little more wise investment IMO. One where finishing outside the top 10 is really not good enough. Instead, although some signings look promising, we've settled for what appears to be the minimum. I know people will argue 'well what's the point of aimng fr 7th as long as we stay' from the boards pont of view but that just shows what a sorry state it is. We're no longer about finishing as high as we can, we appear happy to be a Wigan type and just preserve our PL status.

 

People have also argued well x, y & z haven't spent money. To me that should have been even more of an incentive for us to do so, to really make up some ground or put daylight between us and other teams. We can't base ourselves on what others are or arent doing we hav o maximise our own chances of doingthe best that we possibly can and I don't think we've done that.

 

I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

 

Exactly. This could be the weakest PL for a while, and therefore a golden opportunity to progress. It's a shame we haven't taken it.

 

For me, this window was 5/10 - we signed some good players but also sold some of our best and most influential. Our squad hasn't really improved, in my opinion, except in the midfield area. I'm hopeful that some of our signings can push us on, but this depends on whether they settle in quickly. Unfortunately, we've sold many of the 'characters' in our dressing room, so it may take longer to integrate them than it would have otherwise.

 

Hopefully some of our youth - Krul, Sameobi, Vuckic - really come through this season.

 

Agreed, apart from the selling our best and most influential players part. 2 months ago, I'd have said our best 5 players were Coloccini, Ben Arfa, Tiote, Enrique and Barton. IMO Enrique would have still wanted to go to Liverpool even if we had offered him a much improved contract. Barton they've wanted rid of for some time now, and he wasn't doing himself any favors from their point of view. We've brought in Cabaye, who is on a par with Barton quality wise, and Santon who is a slight downgrade on Enrique in terms of profile, yet has more international caps and came from Inter.

 

We've kept 3 of our 5 best players by the end of it all, and added one or two who could be up there in time.

 

We are missing a quality forward who would have raised the club's profile, and improved the way we retain possession and helped to turn us into a real attacking force. With the names and prices that were knocking about for the last few weeks of the window, I feel we dallied for far too long, and failed in that objective. This is where we see what Pardew is made of as a football manager, and I pray we overachieve this season and strengthen eventually, rather than flatter to deceive and rue our missed opportunity.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Really could have established ourself as a geneuine top 7-9 club with a little more wise investment IMO. One where finishing outside the top 10 is really not good enough. Instead, although some signings look promising, we've settled for what appears to be the minimum. I know people will argue 'well what's the point of aimng fr 7th as long as we stay' from the boards pont of view but that just shows what a sorry state it is. We're no longer about finishing as high as we can, we appear happy to be a Wigan type and just preserve our PL status.

 

People have also argued well x, y & z haven't spent money. To me that should have been even more of an incentive for us to do so, to really make up some ground or put daylight between us and other teams. We can't base ourselves on what others are or arent doing we hav o maximise our own chances of doingthe best that we possibly can and I don't think we've done that.

 

I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

 

Exactly. This could be the weakest PL for a while, and therefore a golden opportunity to progress. It's a shame we haven't taken it.

 

For me, this window was 5/10 - we signed some good players but also sold some of our best and most influential. Our squad hasn't really improved, in my opinion, except in the midfield area. I'm hopeful that some of our signings can push us on, but this depends on whether they settle in quickly. Unfortunately, we've sold many of the 'characters' in our dressing room, so it may take longer to integrate them than it would have otherwise.

 

Hopefully some of our youth - Krul, Sameobi, Vuckic - really come through this season.

 

Yeah, but there is a reason that all those other clubs haven't invested, and those reasons all apply to us as well. Overpriced players, clubs with massive wage bills, banks reducing cheap lending, owners finding their other business interests squeezed in the economy, financial fair play on the horizon.

 

Of course you could argue that when other clubs don't invest then that means we should invest more to overtake them, but that's a bit simplistic IMO.

[Revolution Number 9]

It's not when we know that enough money is there though. How many of those clubs had £35m sitting in the bank?

[TRon]

Really could have established ourself as a geneuine top 7-9 club with a little more wise investment IMO. One where finishing outside the top 10 is really not good enough. Instead, although some signings look promising, we've settled for what appears to be the minimum. I know people will argue 'well what's the point of aimng fr 7th as long as we stay' from the boards pont of view but that just shows what a sorry state it is. We're no longer about finishing as high as we can, we appear happy to be a Wigan type and just preserve our PL status.

 

People have also argued well x, y & z haven't spent money. To me that should have been even more of an incentive for us to do so, to really make up some ground or put daylight between us and other teams. We can't base ourselves on what others are or arent doing we hav o maximise our own chances of doingthe best that we possibly can and I don't think we've done that.

 

I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

 

Exactly. This could be the weakest PL for a while, and therefore a golden opportunity to progress. It's a shame we haven't taken it.

 

For me, this window was 5/10 - we signed some good players but also sold some of our best and most influential. Our squad hasn't really improved, in my opinion, except in the midfield area. I'm hopeful that some of our signings can push us on, but this depends on whether they settle in quickly. Unfortunately, we've sold many of the 'characters' in our dressing room, so it may take longer to integrate them than it would have otherwise.

 

Hopefully some of our youth - Krul, Sameobi, Vuckic - really come through this season.

 

Yeah, but there is a reason that all those other clubs haven't invested, and those reasons all apply to us as well. Overpriced players, clubs with massive wage bills, banks reducing cheap lending, owners finding their other business interests squeezed in the economy, financial fair play on the horizon.

 

Of course you could argue that when other clubs don't invest then that means we should invest more to overtake them, but that's a bit simplistic IMO.

 

Ian, do you have any conclusions to draw about how we ended up bidding for Bryan Ruiz at the 11th hour rather than negotiating successfully through the summer to land our striker target on time? Bear in mind that someone even posted a thread yesterday predicting we would have a final day transfer failure?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Ian, do you have any conclusions to draw about how we ended up bidding for Bryan Ruiz at the 11th hour rather than negotiating successfully through the summer to land our striker target on time? Bear in mind that someone even posted a thread yesterday predicting we would have a final day transfer failure?

 

Not really, it's definitely amateurish to try and hijack someone else's deal at the last minute like that. On the other hand if it had come off we would all be saying it was a brilliant transfer window.

 

I believe we were trying to get another striker throughout the summer though, we just maybe weren't prepared to pay what it would have taken to get a high-quality one.

 

We obviously should have signed another striker, but for whatever reason we didn't. I don't really know enough about the available players and what it would have taken to get them to know if that's right or wrong.

[stozo]

This thread asks two totally separate questions - Rate our summer transfer window and was the £35m well reinvested. I'd rate us highly on how well we have done in the summer transfer window but low on how well £35m was reinvested (because it clearly wasn't).

 

Cabaye, Ba, Marveaux, Obertan and Santon all look to be decent players who have their best years ahead of them. I don't disagree with signing any of them and I think they all have the potentially to be very good players for us.

 

On the outgoings front I was happy that we got rid of Nolan, especially considering we replaced him with someone who is a better player in my opinion. Enrique had to be sold due to his contract situation. The only departure I was disappointed by was Barton and that was only because we failed to get a transfer fee for him. He again wasn't going to sign a new contract so I would have supported selling him for £3/4m.

 

The big disappointment is obviously the lack of a striker. It would have been a great window had we got one of Gameiro, Gervinho, Erdinc or Maiga. The arrival of Ba still means we are stronger up front than at the end of last season but a top striker would have really allowed us to push on this season and target a top 8 finish.

 

Overall I'd give our summer transfer window a 6.5/10. It would have been an 8 had we got a good striker.

[toon25]

Bollocks to the incompetent cunts.

 

Anyway, onwards and upwards. At least we've got, at a push, 2 decent strikers with Shola to 'back up'. We're not in the position of say, Villa or Everton who really are short in the striker department.

 

What an absolute gutter of a day yesterday. Full of optimism at the beginning of the day only to be left wondering, by 11pm, why the fuck I support this magnificent club.

[cfcmagpies]

4. Look to have got some genuine quality in, yet it still smacks of missed opportunity. The final day shenanigans (Bruiz, Ridgewell) really suggest Ashley and Lambias are taking the piss.

[TRon]

Ian, do you have any conclusions to draw about how we ended up bidding for Bryan Ruiz at the 11th hour rather than negotiating successfully through the summer to land our striker target on time? Bear in mind that someone even posted a thread yesterday predicting we would have a final day transfer failure?

 

Not really, it's definitely amateurish to try and hijack someone else's deal at the last minute like that. On the other hand if it had come off we would all be saying it was a brilliant transfer window.

 

I believe we were trying to get another striker throughout the summer though, we just maybe weren't prepared to pay what it would have taken to get a high-quality one.

 

We obviously should have signed another striker, but for whatever reason we didn't. I don't really know enough about the available players and what it would have taken to get them to know if that's right or wrong.

 

What we do know is that we spent all summer chasing targets that weren't successful or encouraged. We also know we had the money to buy Brian Ruiz who was available but didn't enquire until it was far too late, when even a bid a few days earlier could have made all the difference. Some would say that was wilful incompetence and sadly I think it's hard to argue any differently after we've seen it happen so many times.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Ian, do you have any conclusions to draw about how we ended up bidding for Bryan Ruiz at the 11th hour rather than negotiating successfully through the summer to land our striker target on time? Bear in mind that someone even posted a thread yesterday predicting we would have a final day transfer failure?

 

Not really, it's definitely amateurish to try and hijack someone else's deal at the last minute like that. On the other hand if it had come off we would all be saying it was a brilliant transfer window.

 

I believe we were trying to get another striker throughout the summer though, we just maybe weren't prepared to pay what it would have taken to get a high-quality one.

 

We obviously should have signed another striker, but for whatever reason we didn't. I don't really know enough about the available players and what it would have taken to get them to know if that's right or wrong.

 

What we do know is that we spent all summer chasing targets that weren't successful or encouraged. We also know we had the money to buy Brian Ruiz who was available but didn't enquire until it was far too late, when even a bid a few days earlier could have made all the difference. Some would say that was wilful incompetence and sadly I think it's hard to argue any differently after we've seen it happen so many times.

 

Fair enough, I don't know enough about the goings-on to really disagree with that. We spent all summer chasing targets, and we happened not to get another striker in. That's a failing, obviously.

[Guest CaPiTaL cHaP]

The club managed again to ensure it's policy of 'No Capital Outlay' continued (give of take £500,000)!

 

Given that is the philospohy i'd say the siginings were good.