Summer transfer madness thread

[paul_e]

I agree with Gareth.  It was not the turning off of the money by Lerner that did such damage to us.  It was his half arsed now-you-see-me-now-you-don't approach to owning the club.  He was a messer.  It spread right through the club and right through the chain of managers from McLeish to Black and right through the players from Ireland to Richards.  We have just paid £1million for Elmohamady.  How much did Charles N'Zogbia cost us?  That is the difference between what we were and what we are now.  Yes, we wasted a huge amount on Ross McCormack but at least that lesson has been learned and hopes can be allowed to rise that we are finally on the long march back.

I don't think it was any of that, I think all of the other issues come as a consequence of him hiring the wrong people for the wrong reasons and then letting them have total control because that's what mon insisted on and therefore must be part of being a good manager.  McLeish sums it up perfectly, Lerner met him when we played the blues and thought he was a nice guy and then when we were struggling to find a replacement had the genius idea to hire him.  Hiring Fox because he'd been at Arsenal but had nothing to do with football matters was another low.

[brian green]

I think, respectfully, Paul that you are strengthening my point.  Lerner's naivete allowed the appointment of inferior quality employees. What he allowed to happen in his custodianship of the Cleveland Browns is not coincidence.

[kipeye]

I think the biggest waste of money during the Lener era wasn't on players. It was every single penny we paid that useless arsehole Tom Fox.

I must confess when he first arrived I thought he did everything right-turned out I was wrong on that one. Reflects our track record for the last few years.

[paul_e]

I think, respectfully, Paul that you are strengthening my point.  Lerner's naivete allowed the appointment of inferior quality employees. What he allowed to happen in his custodianship of the Cleveland Browns is not coincidence.

I think they're other sides of the same coin, he was naive when it came to appointments and then he didn't know how to fix the mess that created so he buried his head in the sand.  Both come down to the fact that he was out of his depth.

The bit I disagree with is the idea that it was about cutting the money or that he lost interest, I think both of those are easy accusations to make that again don't get to the core of why it didn't work out.

I don't know the guy but everything that happened, and how it happened, makes me think he just wanted people to like him so he surrounded himself with nice guys without really caring that they didn't have the skills or experience needed to do the job.  When he eventually realised that competence was more important it was the last few months and he got them in to sell the club rather than run it.

[peter w]

He can tell them how good Richards is.

they already know.

[RussellC]

Twitter is linking us to Robert Snodgrass today. Would be a top player in the Championship, but the fee being talked about is £7m plus, which is an awful lot for a player who'll be 30 in September.  Bruce has previously admitted to wanting him though, so there's every chance it's a genuine link. Veretout's fee + McCormack's wages (and possible fee) would probably about cover the outlay too.

As an aside, I still think we need another centre-back. We've no idea about the durability of Samba, or how many games we'll get out of Terry. Sadly, we know all too well about Baker's durability (or lack of). Granted the 3 of them (and Jedinak) should all be able to cover each others' absences, but my big fear is what happens if/when Chester gets injured. A back 2 containing any combination of that 4 would be so slow it'd force our defence to set-up so deep  it would hinder the whole team.

None of the younger CBs that we have look to have the physicality to play in the Championship yet (Suliman in particular looks to be very lightweight). Did somebody previously say that De Laet can play as a CB in emergencies...?

[sirlordbaltimore]

We can't have more than four senior centre backs surely.

[eamonn]

Snodgrass, hasn't he had more clubs than McIlroy in the last couple of years?

[tomd2103]

We can't have more than four senior centre backs surely.

I don't think we need any more centre-halves.  In fact, all I think we really could do with is a target man style centre forward and a left winger (Snodgrass would fit the bill for the latter). 

[Des Little]

Snodgrass would be an excellent buy if we could get him - I get the impression (from Twitter admittedly) that West Ham fans aren't keen on him - maybe he's not settled?  Hope so!

[olaftab]

Snodgrass, hasn't he had more clubs than McIlroy in the last couple of years?

Another average footballer that we could do without.

[Matt Collins]

If we play 3 at the back we need more cover (unless he thinks Bree or de Laet can do it)

If not we don't

[Salsa Party Animal]

is there any good target man out there we could try to sign. We want someone like Benteke/Les Ferdinard/Alan Shearer/Gerry Hitchens/Pongo Waring . Don't want Peter Crouch.  I know C Ronaldo could be ideal but that is about likely as Walsall winning the Champions League.

[cheltenhamlion]

I think, respectfully, Paul that you are strengthening my point.  Lerner's naivete allowed the appointment of inferior quality employees. What he allowed to happen in his custodianship of the Cleveland Browns is not coincidence.

It is a tough one for me. Because of my stuff with the Trust I have got to know some former senior figures in a personal capacity.

You couldn't meet a nicer bloke than Paul Faulkner but he was woefully out of his depth running a football club. He got the gig as Lerner likes him and he was instrumental in bringing Sir Flouncealot to account (and that was because Lerner didn't have the bollocks to just sack him).

As a businessman, Fox was a much shrewder operator. He quickly tried to right the ship from a commercial perspective (we were actually losing money on merchandise given the half headed nature of some of the deals Faulkner agreed). He knew they needed a proper management structure. He just didn't have the football knowledge to get the right people in place.

Hollis was the brightest of the lot and would have been a sound Chairman had he stopped around longer. I get the impression he never really fancied it long term though.

[paul_e]

The problem with Snodgrass is that it'd be yet another 30 year old and is just another one we'd need to replace next summer.  It might work and get us promoted but it just feels like we're putting everything on promotion with no thought for what happens when we get there.