Fair points in there. Football was changing and we were hanging in because of the team we had. I was out in town with a mate who worked with the club one time at the end of one of the seasons in the 80s and he was literally telling us that in the space of a week, the club had got huge offers for McMahon, Barnes, Whelan, Nicol and Houghton. Kenny didn't want to sell, but there was apparently a bit of pressure on him to do so. My mate was saying it was a constant thing from the Italian and Spanish clubs. Ultimately, none of those left on his watch, but that did impact us getting other top notch players in. The price for Pallister was bonkers at the time, but what a good defender he was.
I'll be honest, some of those signings had talent. If Kenny had stayed past 1991, a few of them probably would have had decent careers here.