Rafa signings.

to be fair, i did winder why rafa needed an experienced goalie, i now realise that elliott is ok but darlow is not up to scratch. woodman obviously isn't ready yet , so yep we DO need an experienced goalie as well

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Originally Posted by ghostrider

Rafa is buying. He has funds to buy but he also has to sell to buy.
Which players is he buying that's worth 5 million?
All of them except Murphy.

Ashley stated what was what, whether you accept it or not.
He said Rafa can have the funds that the club generate.
He then says it's not enough and we all know this and so does Rafa.
He also says that this club is Newcastle United and it doesn't generate that sort of cash that can fight the big boys, because we are basically taking on countries. And in a way, he's right.
Who here thinks about fighting the big boys?????
I want to be able to beat clubs like Bournemouth Watford etc to players and be able to break our transfer record that hasn't been broken for 12+ year



Rafa's not getting slated for signing crap. He's getting told to stop whining and also to stop being so negative in conference and on the pitch with his team selection and tactics.
I want Rafa to succeed but I also want him to give the fans something to shout about in doing so.



So far behind who?
So far behind clubs that we were so far in front of before Ashley showed up. Swansea Bournemouth palace stoke Southampton basically the whole premier league.
So far behind the top sugar daddy clubs?

The best of the rest of them are on a wing and a prayer and dependent on expensively bought players with high wages doing the business for them.
Then there's us, the newbies having to start all over again and ensure that we can make a fist of the first season back to give us the funds to push on with the TV money, etc.




We can blame whoever we want to but it's not going to change the scene in terms of what funds are available, of which you or I do not know what is available.
All we know is, there's not 100 or 150 million available for players, as Ashley said.
Rafa bought the players and he shouldn't be under any illusions about signing expensive players on sickening wages, at all, yet alone at this stage.

The money that the bigger clubs are spewing on players is not investment. It's cheating. It's simply cheating.

If clubs genuinely had to run in house on fair play in a genuine manner, then we would be competing soon enough.
Let's see Rafa show his management genius and take us to the next step of his tenure by creating the superstars over a few seasons by turning good players into great players and not be reliant on trying to quick fix on a whim.

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Like buying anything, it's a question of quality versus quantity. With £30m do you buy two £15m or five £6m? I don't see the point of the latter because you end up with mediocrities no better than what you've got already. I know about the argument that you need competition for places and cover for injuries but you can have this with existing players including the Academy if the ones you buy are no better. In my view if you can't get your first or second choice forget it. Why buy Atsu when you've got a fit Aarons who's better? Why buy Joselu who's made no impression elsewhere? I know it's early to judge but Merino and Manquillo don't seem any improvement on, say, Haidara or Colback. It just seems to be turnover of players for the sake of it. With cheap players you end up in a season or two with ones you can't offload because no other club will pay them what NUFC are paying them.

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Originally Posted by occult

Like buying anything, it's a question of quality versus quantity. With £30m do you buy two £15m or five £6m? I don't see the point of the latter because you end up with mediocrities no better than what you've got already. I know about the argument that you need competition for places and cover for injuries but you can have this with existing players including the Academy if the ones you buy are no better. In my view if you can't get your first or second choice forget it. Why buy Atsu when you've got a fit Aarons who's better? Why buy Joselu who's made no impression elsewhere? I know it's early to judge but Merino and Manquillo don't seem any improvement on, say, Haidara or Colback. It just seems to be turnover of players for the sake of it. With cheap players you end up in a season or two with ones you can't offload because no other club will pay them what NUFC are paying them.

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Good post. To me, our main job this Summer was to improve the first team, not the squad. I think Lejeune falls into the first category whereas the rest, for me, seem to be squad additions. Obviously we haven't seen enough of Merino to say either way but i don't think he was one of our main targets. if you spread your money too thinly buy buying several low-priced players then you have a squad of more consistency but the quality overall is much lower. I think you should invest the large majority of your money in the first team and bit by bit do the same each window, targeting different positions to keep making little steps up in quality each time.

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Originally Posted by ghostrider

If clubs genuinely had to run in house on fair play in a genuine manner, then we would be competing soon enough.
Let's see Rafa show his management genius and take us to the next step of his tenure by creating the superstars over a few seasons by turning good players into great players and not be reliant on trying to quick fix on a whim.

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I like that idea, but he has to be given enough to keep us safe in the 1st place. then build

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Originally Posted by toonlegend

to be fair, i did winder why rafa needed an experienced goalie, i now realise that elliott is ok but darlow is not up to scratch. woodman obviously isn't ready yet , so yep we DO need an experienced goalie as well

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^ This... I have no words to Describe Darlow's performance against Forest.

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Originally Posted by toonlegend

I like that idea, but he has to be given enough to keep us safe in the 1st place. then build

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Absolutely. I agree wholeheartedly.
The issue is a touchy one in terms of how this club operates.
As we know, the real nitty gritty in terms of premier league strength is in harnessing the mega money on offer after each season.
Basically speaking we cannot open our cash presents until the end of this season.
This is when Rafa should have the funds available to have a real crack and strength building and would be his best efforts to give himself and the fans some real forward hope....or Ashley gets found out to be dishonest in his stance on Rafa having what the club generates.

There's no hiding place for anyone this time around. We will see proof in the pudding next season, regardless.
However, it's this season where Rafa has to really earn his corn and simply set out the team/squad in such a way where we have a fighting chance of finishing in a sensible place and well away from danger.
This is where his management skills and know how should come to the fore, regardless of bemoaning missed targets.

Any manager worth his salt will set about making good players, better and top managers will make good players better and better players into top players.
I expect rafa to at least make this (his) team better and easily good enough to escape a relegation issue.
That's all that is expected of him and I believe we have enough to achieve it fairly comfortably, with the opportunity to still add one or two signings to the mix before the window closes.


Anyway I'm babbling on but the crux of the matter is (regardless of the past) we will see what's in that end of season pot for him.
If it's not as full as hinted at, then I expect Rafa to walk and fair enough.
I will also accept that as a club, we will never progress, unless we sell the entire soul of the club to a Sheikh and just go for the mercenary ride until it Peters out.

Anyway I'm what iffing and babbling even more. :D
You get the gist, right?