I hope our owner digs deep

[ex_pat_magpie]

Good squads are usually built over various seasons - of course you have to consider players that leave the squad as well as those that come in. It´s well documented that you need certain types of player and a large squad to play a season in the Fizzy and most of the players bought by Rafa were to try to escape that league. Let´s not forget the quality of player that we lost when we were relegated - Wijnaldum, Janmat, Townsend, Sissoko (!), etc. and you don´t want to consider these in your argument?

To finish 10th in the first season back and not to build on that by strengthening the squad is lunacy and noone is being clever in hindsight - everyone knew this at the time.

Saying that Rafa has had plenty of funds when you look at the spend in the PL of all other clubs is a ridiculous argument for anyone who knows how to add numbers.

But Ghost only wants to use the figures from one side of the argument and discard them from the other side.

[Broken records]

Ok thought I’d miss one or two it did take about 45 mins to think about!

Lazaar £5m (i think he was actually £3.5m but benefit of the doubt) and Merino bought for £5m and sold for £10m so £10m out and £10m in therefore:

£119.2 spent and £123.5 brought in. It’s still -£4.3m!!!

But when clubs such as wolves fulham are spending that in one transfer window without selling players just shows why we are where we are. And while they sign good players that have played champions league football, we sign championship players....

Championship vs champions leauge players... Who wins?

[Kingstonbob1]

Lazaar was actually £3m so the £4.3m rises to £6.3m profit in two years seven months.

[Byker Mag]

In january window he needs Togo out and get what Rafa asks for to help us stay up.bu I think Ashley would much rather have a relegation on rafas CV .

another post ruined by the same two idiots

[ghostrider]

another post ruined by the same two idiots

No posts ruined here. In fact I'd say it's a productive topic.
Isn't this what forums are all about?
Isn't the too and fro arguments what it's all about or do you feel it's better to just nod in agreement for every topic put up?

[Kingstonbob1]

It's not the minus I'm interested in. It doesn't matter about the minus.
What matters in the money that was allowed to be spent on players.

My argument was in what Rafa had to spend, not what was raked in by outgoing transfers.
They were Rafa's supposed unwanted cast off's.

For his time at the club he's been given decent funds to do a job with and would have likely got more had he committed, yet we can only speculate on that bit.

I didn’t think you’d be interested in it but no doubt would if it had been a plus figure.

The only time Rafa has been able to spend a significant sum was to get Ashley out of the Championship hole when he spent £62.5m this being mostly £5m purchases 7 in fact, but funded it with £75.5m brought in with the sales of Janmatt, Townsend,Wijndum and Sissoko giving Ashley a £13m profit, and the club were according to Charnley at deaths door if Rafa hadn’t got us up at the first time of asking.

I do think it looks as though J Murphy has been a waste of £12m given that we can’t afford to take a chance on players due to the financial restraints put on purchases by Ashley (although at times ie Man C away last season he looked promising and needs a run of 6/10 games for us to fully judge), and Joselu is well...I can’t actually find the words together with Atsu who is dross. Money has been wasted but he’s brought in Dubravka, Fernandez, Le Jeune, Ritchie, Gayle who have been really good astute purchases. Every manager makes a few howler purchases remember Djemba Djemba, Kleberson and Veron who Ferguson purchased for about £50m 12 years ago but Carrick, Rooney, Ronaldo we’re huge successes. Thing is Man U have always been able to gamble.

So Rafa has shown he can shop in the bargain basement given the purchases and financial clout of many of the teams in the Prem and has had to keep more than a nucleus of Championship/lower end Prem players in his squad. Given the situation he has had to cut his cloth which Ashley wants but has continued to be shafted.

Rafa has made mistakes no doubt but you could put Guardiola in charge and we wouldn’t be that much higher.

Rafa has done a great job given the restraints he has been under but you can only cut so much before big cracks begin to show. Just take this country as a bigger example and the austerity over the last 6/7 years less police, nurses etc chickens coming home to roost in both scenarios.