I remember watching a cl game and afterwards ruud gullit was talking about vdv. HE said harry got jamie to ring him up and ask if vdv was any good!:bang: its little wonder we cant identify decent replacements for our frontline and go for them... maybe ruud has changed his number and harry cant work out if vukinic is any good.We didn't waste the whole window messing about with Beckham. We are talking about several professionals, here, you know - they are capable of working on more than one thing at once.
We took the best part of a month to agree a fee for Steven Pienaar (hey, there's only ONE SP :shhh, firstly because football deals are complex business agreements, and secondly, because Everton desperately didn't want to let him go.
We took Friedel on a free, because, well,he was free :wink: He also adds more top level competition in the goalkeeping position, an important aspect when we remember the many times the Octopus (much as I love him) stubbed a hair on his shin, or dislocated his glove, or summit, or for when his form dipped horribly. It has also been suggested that we are getting him in with a view to a longer term coaching role. I have no idea if there is any truth in that, but it does give a welcome reminder as to why we need to exercise caution as fans - we know virtually fook all about what is going on behind the scenes:wink:
I don't know why you are even using the example of Phil Neville. We made an offer it was rejected.
We didn't fail with a bid for Amam because it was too late. The deal collapsed because a Blackpool board member who was required to complete documentation couldn't be reached. You can't blame Levy for that - unless you are suggesting he had the aforementioned board member hostage to prevent him form selling us a player.
I have given my take on the late bids for strikers in January. Levy didn't come into his position sa Chairman as a footballing person, so he has been on a steep learning curve. He has been expanding his role in recent years to encompass some of the responsibilities associated with a DOF. As such he is still on a steep learning curve. With this in mind, I think he slightly underestimated the requirements of attracting a top striker...is all.
I don't think VDV fell into our lap - I believe our managment team worked very hard to lay the grandwork,and we benefitted from that.
I don't mean to seem like I am picking on you...I just have long-standing issues with the ultra-pessimism of many board members...in fact, I find it hilarious.
I don't think there is anything to worry about and I do believe, to fit their agenda, many members project Jnauary's failings in the TM back to a time immemorial, when the truth is we bought VDV to the Lane last Summer, and in the previous windows our business was enough to bring in players of sufficient quality for us to qualify for the CL.
As for qualifying next year, I believe, providing we can keep our star performers, and add a little bit of quality up front (which, as stated, I believe we will do), we have a very good chance.
Give me strength, have we missed out on the player? No. It's called our chairman trying to do the best for our club. Heaven forbid what he would need to do to make people like you happy. Probably bury the club into the ground financially, but even then when it comes out what he has done, you'll have a whinge.
