Howmanheyman 33223 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Sure he made sure the club never bought any players for 18 months, but that's just nitpicking pessimism. When the call went out for money to protect his investment, Mike came up with the goods. /CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Hey, if you guys want to feel all pessimistic about the future based on one window in time, feel free I just don't think that plays any part in where we are now or where we are going. From memory over the last 5 years we are in the top 10 for net spend. Cash being available has not been our downfall. Rafa, if he signs, will have everything he wants nailed down. Ashley has been clear we can spend what we generate. Good times are a coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 To June 2013 the club was making an operating loss. It had to subsidise that loss on player trading. I consider the sales of Nzogbia, Given, Bassong, Duff, Martins and Beye to be cuts. I don't even include Milner in there as we went and spent that income (and wages) on Coloccini (and Xisco ) Since then we have spent what we could afford, as CT says. Not sure I'd call any sales since then "cuts" because the wages have never gone over 70% to need cutting. On the other hand, whatever Ashley promises, he has taken £11m out of the club to repay his loan rather than push on from a 5th place finish, and he's had another £18m earmarked for repayment since then as well. There's no reason to suppose he'll treat Rafa any better than the previous managers he fucked over with promises without delivery (I include McClaren in that too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44886 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Hey, if you guys want to feel all pessimistic about the future based on one window in time, feel free [emoji38] I just don't think that plays any part in where we are now or where we are going. From memory over the last 5 years we are in the top 10 for net spend. Cash being available has not been our downfall. Rafa, if he signs, will have everything he wants nailed down. Ashley has been clear we can spend what we generate. Good times are a coming. God you're Ashley's perfect customer. Brain the size of a pea, memory of a goldfish, belly of a whale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35083 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Tbf, when has CT ever been wrong about his assessment of Ashley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 That's all on averages though, we haven't spent well with regularity it has been boom and bust type spending. If we had spent more when we came 5th we'd have probably fared better since then, instead he spent 8m on Anita and that was it until his arse nipped about relegation iirc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Howay, you don't buy a new giant mug every 6 months. You buy them when they're cheap. That's why we have 14 midfielders and 2 (sub-par) strikers. Strikers will be going cheap soon. Just need to wait until football is less reliant on scoring goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Howay, you don't buy a new giant mug every 6 months. You buy them when they're cheap. That's why we have 14 midfielders and 2 (sub-par) strikers. Strikers will be going cheap soon. Just need to wait until football is less reliant on scoring goals. :lol: Just biding their time. Now we've been relegated I think missing out on Benik Afobe is an even dafter move, ignoring the fact he may well have kept us in the league he'd have scored plenty in the Championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Nah, a left back was the priority Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Nah, a left back was the priority It was! I never said we didn't need a striker as well but Defence was a massive priority, I've already explained why in another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44886 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Nah, a left back was the priority He quipped, winking into the rear view mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 He quipped, winking into the rear view mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10857 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Nah, a left back was the priority Defence was the priority and it was ignored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Defence was the priority and it was ignored. Give over man. Rafa managed to polish the defence up not too bad in a very short time, he couldn't quite polish the turds upfront though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It only took one of the best defensive coaches in the world, we didn't have a left back for a good amount of time man. We needed a striker but our defence was bare bones for most of the season, Anita ended up playing right back for a decent run of games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It only took one of the best defensive coaches in the world, we didn't have a left back for a good amount of time man. We needed a striker but our defence was bare bones for most of the season, Anita ended up playing right back for a decent run of games. I've never once denied the defence was / is not great, only that a striker was more of a priority than a left back. Had we bought a Defoe or similar in Jan we would still be in the premiership. End of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Perhaps, we could also say the same thing for the defence. We'd have had more of the ball with a better defence etc all which has already been discussed. For a good amount of games under McClaren we barely even had the ball so a decent striker wouldn't have done much. End of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpirlo68 0 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It only took one of the best defensive coaches in the world, we didn't have a left back for a good amount of time man. We needed a striker but our defence was bare bones for most of the season, Anita ended up playing right back for a decent run of games. Not sure about the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Not sure about the world No? I'm fairly comfortable calling him one of the best tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I've never once denied the defence was / is not great, only that a striker was more of a priority than a left back. Had we bought a Defoe or similar in Jan we would still be in the premiership. End of We will never ever ever bring in a Defoe while your man Ashley has a Sports Direct sign up at SJP though. So I'm not sure what point you're making about Ashley's newfound capacity for improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4725 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 We will never ever ever bring in a Defoe while your man Ashley has a Sports Direct sign up at SJP though. So I'm not sure what point you're making about Ashley's newfound capacity for improvement. We've had some good finishers here over the last few season, Cisse, Ba and Remy. Last season we didn't which imo is the biggest weak point in last seasons team. It's quite a separate issue from the one made earlier which is that I see no reason why "cuts" will be made once promoted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) We've had some good finishers here over the last few season, Cisse, Ba and Remy. Last season we didn't which imo is the biggest weak point in last seasons team. It's quite a separate issue from the one made earlier which is that I see no reason why "cuts" will be made once promoted. I and others have thoroughly explained what was meant by cuts and you've just chosen to completely ignore it. Past history with Ashley has saw him not bother spending when he feels we are safe from relegation, stating that you think he'll now do otherwise is more like "unfounded claptrap" than us all saying he'll revert to type. HF has simply said that we wouldn't buy the type of striker you've advocated buying and you're bringing up a bloke we had on loan a few seasons ago, a bloke we sold 3-4 seasons ago and a guy that has been dogshit for 2 seasons now as what? evidence against that point? In that whole 12 month period argument you were using before the only striker we have bought is a 20 year old kid from a foreign league, one that everyone said has potential but saw it as ridiculous to expect him to come in and get all the goals we needed. Edited May 23, 2016 by Howay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 We've had some good finishers here over the last few season, Cisse, Ba and Remy. Last season we didn't which imo is the biggest weak point in last seasons team. It's quite a separate issue from the one made earlier which is that I see no reason why "cuts" will be made once promoted. I agree, see no reason we will cut Mitrovic, Cisse or Armstrong. That's not something that fills me with optimism as it does you though. You're clinging onto one £10m striker signed 5 years ago as the signal that Ashley now gets what investment is needed to build a squad and won't hold back. He doesn't get it. Didn't in January and won't next year. For Ba and Remy previously, see Doumbia this year. I was wrong about Benitez coming in though, so I'll apologise to you if Ashley ever matches what the likes of Villa and Everton have spent on strikers recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) I agree, see no reason we will cut Mitrovic, Cisse or Armstrong. I wasn't talking about cutting players necessarily, it was more that he'll scale back on the transfer fees front which is what he did until we were back in trouble again. Although the fact we haven't been flogging players isn't evidence of Ashley's amazing desire to hang onto them, it's more the fact they've been utter shit by and large for three years now and nobody wants them. Edited May 23, 2016 by Howay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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