12 months on

[terry mac]

this time last year, million miles away from winning the premiership and thoughts of winning the champions league were mere fantasies...numerous fans and papers were blaming and slagging the club for paying crazy money on average players for crazy money...we were a laughing stock

 

twelve months on we are now European champions!!!! and have a manager who will not be held to ransom because of this and will bide his time to get the right player at the right price

 

come on what people....lets get a fuckin grip

[Anny Road]

could not agree more

[captainharris]

I think people are just pissed off that we had the entire transfer window to sign a CB and RM. They were really the only two positions that REALLY needed strengthening, we know we have agreat manager, we wouldnt have won the Champions League otherwise, its just the thought of how great we could have been this season with those new players in place. If we can be european champions with some parts of a great 1st 11 missisng, imagine how good we could have been this season with the jigsaw complete.

[terry mac]

why pay over the odds for a gamble that might backfire.....we had the money in 2002 and paid way over the odds on three unproven players and it came to haunt us and we wasted millions trying to off load one and still stuck with two

no id rather be patient and buy the right players

[Uncle Travelling Matt]

Imagine if we'd spent say £8m on players just for the sake of it and they became below average squad players like Cheyrou and Diao etc.... We now have the money we didn't spend now to spend in Jan or next June and make sure we get the quality that the manager wants. I understand that as European Champions we should be able to attract most players but the problem wasn't in attracting the players, it was persuading their clubs to let them go and clubs that recognise their player is quality are not gonna do that without a fight. I think the whole of the last two weeks has boiled down to the fact that Rafa doesn't want to be ripped off and sacrifice future buys by paying over the odds now........As much as I'd have liked us to bring in another few quality players, I can't say I disagree with his attitude.

 

Also, I think we have improved the squad this summer. Chelsea have bought some quality in but they are just replacing quality with quality, you can only play 11 players at once. Arsenal have lost their Captain and havn't replaced him and although I expect Rooney will shine this year, I don't see any major buys from the Mancs. So in reality we aint done that bad a job this summer.

 

Let the likes of Spurs and Newcastle spend money they havn't got.

[captainharris]

Imagine if we'd spent say £8m on players just for the sake of it and they became below average squad players like Cheyrou and Diao etc.... We now have the money we didn't spend now to spend in Jan or next June and make sure we get the quality that the manager wants. I understand that as European Champions we should be able to attract most players but the problem wasn't in attracting the players, it was persuading their clubs to let them go and clubs that recognise their player is quality are not gonna do that without a fight. I think the whole of the last two weeks has boiled down to the fact that Rafa doesn't want to be ripped off and sacrifice future buys by paying over the odds now........As much as I'd have liked us to bring in another few quality players, I can't say I disagree with his attitude.

 

Also, I think we have improved the squad this summer. Chelsea have bought some quality in but they are just replacing quality with quality, you can only play 11 players at once. Arsenal have lost their Captain and havn't replaced him and although I expect Rooney will shine this year, I don't see any major buys from the Mancs. So in reality we aint done that bad a job this summer.

 

Let the likes of Spurs and Newcastle spend money they havn't got.

We have improved the squad, definately and have managed to get rid of a lot of the deadwood in one way or another. But we haven't strengthened the areas that needed strengthening. I dont think panic buying is the right thing, but Rafa ovioulsy had a list of quality players he wanted and its obvious he's not the type of manager who just goes out and get anyone who becomes available, but we failed to get any of them for the two positions we needed most. I think with the structure of the transfer window time can be very much against you.. maybe the ONLY way to prize quality players away from their clubs is to offer over the odds. Otherwise what happens is you have a bank full of money and no-one to spend it on.

 

What happens if we cant get any players in January (which is likely judging by the way we've dealt in the transfer market this summer). The money available for players will keep going up but we wont be able to spend it, we then have to wait til next season.. and so on.

[Karl_b]

Surely we will get players in during January? It would be a shambles if not. I'd like to think that the targets are all in place and it would just be a case of finalising them come January.

[terry mac]

But wasint Gonzalez our first choice right midfielder and Figo on a year contract, maybe due to Gonzalez injuey?? and due to circumstances we couldint get the two we wanted....we only made an effort to get Stellios in the last few days before the deadline so i dont think Rafa was too keen anyway....my reckoning was we had or have a set amount for the right side and centre half position, when we did not get Milito or Mexes (who we tried to buy then loan) the money then went towards the right side i.e Simao....we couldint get the lad from Parma as he said so himself cause Parma wouldint let him go as well as the lad from Valencia who also wouldint let him go on loan, Rfa is looking for quality and at the right price and his right....paying over the odds left us in a right mess before last season and had us hiring people to look for investment....dont forget the money on Gerrards contract and paying off Ged and Thommo would take up alot of money we had

[Cardie]

Clubs will still want a premium for the players we want in January and with the world cup only 6 months away it could, in theory, prove even more difficult to sign players.

 

We will have more time to negotiate with clubs and will have a stronger foot hold in negotiations but that was the theory this summer as well.

[terry mac]

Clubs will still want a premium for the players we want in January and with the world cup only 6 months away it could, in theory, prove even more difficult to sign players.

 

We will have more time to negotiate with clubs and will have a stronger foot hold in negotiations but that was the theory this summer as well.

 

but isint that the samer with everyone, except chelski who can pay any odds?

newcastle to me will suffer from the money they have forked out

[Nick Leeson]

but isint that the samer with everyone, except chelski who can pay any odds?

newcastle to me will suffer from the money they have forked out

I don't think Newcastle will suffer. They do actually have a good turnover and didn't spend much money at all last summer or the summer before if I remember rightly. They've also sold Woodgate, Bellamy and Jenas in the last 12 months for a combined total of about £29 million.

[Dirk]

I don't think Newcastle will suffer. They do actually have a good turnover and didn't spend much money at all last summer or the summer before if I remember rightly. They've also sold Woodgate, Bellamy and Jenas in the last 12 months for a combined total of about £29 million.

 

That was the point I made. For the three previous seasons they have had a net spend of roughly nil.

[Paul]

Maybe we're all incorrectly assuming that we missed out on Rafa's two priority positions. It seems to me that they only became his priorities once he'd brought in his main targets: a new keeper and a striker to hold the ball. As for the other two, Zenden was done early because it was a piece of piss - he was free and desperate to come so it was a done deal in about 20 minutes; and Rafa's on record as saying that the Sissoko thing wasn't in his plans, but was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

 

Basically, I think the CB and RM positions were secondary priorities after a keeper he could trust and man up front who could bring his midfielders into the goals. Just because we've all regarded a lack of pace at the back and width in midfield as our greatest problems for years, doesn't mean Rafa did.

[MLB]

He did though, because he kept saying that we needed to fill those positions all summer.

[Zippy]

He did though, because he kept saying that we needed to fill those positions all summer.

 

 

I know but i think Paul is saying that they only became the top priorities after the signings of Crouch and Reina. Even if this is the case I am still disappointed as they remained very improtant positions that needed strengthening.

 

I think GK and striker were the positions he wanted to strengthen most - he wanted players he can trust in both those positions. A man who can hold the ball up is tactically arguably the most important thing in a Benitez team IMO.

 

All the great managers say the most important thing in football is to get the spine right and we have done that.