Pretty silly of me to respond, but I'm a little bored.
Alan Shearer is a different story. He signed in 1996 after we finished 2nd in the league (the year before 6th, before that 3rd). Plus he has an obvious affinity to the area.
You have to understand that we're far from the club that we were in 1996, or the years before that. For us to compete with the bigger clubs we not only need to match their transfer fees despite having much lower turnovers. On top of that we then generally would need to exceed their wage offers. In reality we'd need to do more, and spend more than 'big' clubs that have been stalwarts in proper European competitions of late.
You'd be hard pressed finding anyone whose name doesn't start with Mrs and end in Best that thinks that the signing of Leon Best was a good one.
Yes please. However to do it in the current climate of super spending clubs with stacked rosters (again you have to admit that this was not so strongly the case back in 1996) we need to be smart about our signings. Signing a handful of players that each improve the quality of our first 11 in the long term is more likely to be beneficial to European ambitions than signing a more expensive big name player who's likely to struggle to get the service, support and/or movement (depending on position) that he got at other clubs.
I'd like to think that even you would admit that the signing of Tiote looks to have been a very good one that has significantly improved out first 11. Ben Arfa too was a good signing - finding someone with such obvious talent with a passion to play for Newcastle United is unfortunately rare these days. The short-mid term fate of that move unfortunately was fucked over by that cunt Nigel de Jong. Whether these sort of moves have a snowball effect resulting in other astute purchases that improve our team exponentially obviously remains to be seen. If Tiote leaves for more money in the off-season then the intentions will be made entirely clear.
There's a general feeling that Mike Ashley wants to buy players young and cheap to improve them, raise their profile and then move them off for a higher price, but the flipside of this is that that is exactly the sort of common sense policy that is essential in building a team that can compete for European qualification without throwing away ridiculous sums of money bringing in ready made mercenary talent. We've not really seen a lot of activity from the top that truly indicates precisely what Ashley wants to do, though in truth the signs are not at all good in suggesting that he has the competence to carry out his plans whatever they may be.
You might point to the sale of James Milner as evidence, but I'd counter that by saying that many believed at the time that we sold him for a very good price. On top of that he wanted to leave, so with a healthy price and his desire to depart it's hardly shocking that he was moved along (a true replacement should have been forthcoming though).
Charles N'Zogbia likewise wanted to go, probably because he's a stroppy, complaining jerk. Sure he might have been more talented than most of the players he left behind, but his presence came at what cost to the harmony of the side?
Seb Bassong had an excellent season and it was sad to see him go but I still agree that his sale was 100% the right decision. He wasn't needed for us in the Championship as evidenced by our excellent defensive record, and a season in the lower league would no doubt have reduced his value significantly. Upon our return to the premier league he'd likely have held us to ransom for a new deal with only 1 year left to run, and if he didn't get what he wanted he'd more or less have been able to force a sale at a severely reduced cost. Alternately he could have played out the season and gone for nothing. Whatever the case I think his sporadic and unimpressive performances for Tottenham prove that he's not as good as it first seemed. Stood out for us because he was playing alongside the confidence-shattered Coloccini and a winger as a fullback.
Shay Given went after the Keegan fuck up, which was perpetrated largely by the incompetence and naivity of Ashley in regards to running a football club. At the time you couldn't really blame Given, though you'd have to wonder whether he'd change his mind if he had the chance to make the decision all over again knowing what he knows now.
Now back to the topic at hand. In my opinion it's better to say you're not going to buy any players and then still keep your ear to the ground for any suitable players than it is to declare your intentions only to have agents drooling over the prospect of hefty transfer fees and sign-on clauses. January is notoriously bad for availability of quality players, so I'd rather us not throw away money on foolish signings with an eye on better bang for our buck in the off-season. Of course it's way too early now to know how close to the relegation spots we'll be in January so that should obviously have a large impact on Ashley's willingness to spend.
Sorry for the effing huge reposnse, but once I got started I couldn't stop. It would be interesting to hear a response from Leazes or Year Zero that doesn't hark back to a past that unfortunately has very little bearing on the current footballing climate. You're both obviously passionate and intelligent enough to read this and make a reasoned response.
