John Evans
Looking at the amounts of money being branded about this week by other clubs made me realise that the route we have taken as a club in recent seasons must be the correct route to take for all clubs if possible. As soon, with the introduction of UEFA’s new regulations on the way that clubs’ finances are handled, the effects of over spending on players could see teams become unable to compete in various European competitions including the Champions League.
I feel we should show a little more reality where football is concerned these days as many fans seem to look at what other clubs do and get jealous at not being in the thick of the action where transfer dealings are concerned. But surely over the longer term we will be sitting pretty and looking damn solid compared to our south west London rivals and other big spenders.
Something stood out a mile for me reading the aftermath of the closing of the transfer deadline. Other teams are getting desperate.
There was an interview with Harry Redknapp where he mentioned that he went out for a meal near the end of the deadline and was then contacted by the Spurs chairman who asked him if he fancied Charlie Adam as a player. He replied he did and then the chairman got on with trying to prize the Blackpool player to the Lane in the dying minutes with the deadline approaching. Apparently an offer was accepted but various signatures were not obtained in time and the deal fell through. Can you imagine this happening at our club? AW heading off for a late night curry and just as he demolishes his fourteenth naan bread his mobile goes and it is Peter Hill Wood trying his best to force some random player on to the books of the club? Do you fancy him Arsene? Well do ya???
It all seems a tad amateurish to me. How can you run a club like that? Look at Liverpool and the whole Torres fiasco. They got bummed by Chelsea and what do they do in response? Check a list for who they can bum in return and quick time! Carroll for £35m is a joke. Fair enough he is a good player and may get very good over time but come on, £35m? They panicked big time at the thought of losing Torres and in an attempt to appease the fans they spent well over the odds on a relatively unproven striker which was an act born entirely out of desperation.
Do we really want our club to be run in such a way that risks its long term health and stability just so we can sit in front of Sky Sports News once a year with a slight sense of anticipation? I think not. Maybe we could have done with a further centre half on the books but we do have four with Song as a possible fifth choice in times of real need. Is that not enough? If we had splashed £20m on Cahill for example would he be in the first choice XI if everyone was fit and able to play? Why would AW consider this when he chose to wait and get Chamakh for free last summer? If you are not going to go out and spend a bit of money on a needed forward player then I doubt very much if you would then splash big money on a reserve centre half. It wouldn’t add up.
Where we could strengthen the squad for me would be in the summer with possibly one or two who seem to be well off the pace of our required levels of play heading to pastures new. Then with the salaries off the books we could get in a couple of new faces. Maybe a couple of midfielders to replace Rosicky and Denilson wouldn’t be a bad call, but we certainly are not in need of massive investment as things stand in my eyes.
The win against Everton showed us all that this team have bigger balls than they have had in recent seasons and I still feel massively confident that we will be heavily involved come the end of the season. United are far from home and hosed in my eyes and I cannot see them finishing the season as the Invincibles #2.
I liked the look of the way we came back to win Tuesday night’s match. We stayed relatively calm and it was great to see Arshavin get back on the scoresheet. Hopefully this will be the catalyst for him to show an improved spell of form as without Nasri we need him to be on fire over the coming weeks - I feel we miss our little Frenchman more than ever now. I get the impression AW feels playing with Theo and Andrey in the same side is too attacking against decent opposition and that is probably the reason behind Rosicky starting against Everton. I would like to see this changed to allow both players to start at Newcastle tomorrow (if Theo is fit).
United’s tougher spell is just about to start and I feel if we can just keep the right players fit and well for this upcoming period we have every chance of lifting more than one trophy this season. Who knows, with Orient to come in the FA Cup more than two could be on the cards, but I guess after six years without any trophies whatsoever that would just be plain greedy.
