Deluded F*ck™ wrote:Yes we can, we had Berbatov, we had Mido (when he was serious about his career), we had Kanoute, all players who were brought in when we were a far inferior side. So tell me why can't we get that quality of CF again
Mido's record with you was 41 apps (+20 sub apps) yielding 19 goals, 11 of which came in his one particularly notable season. Okay, he was a talented player but you probably saw the best of him - he never really replicated that anywhere else from what I remember.
Back then there was a bit less hoarding of players, and the league was worse/easier to score in. Some of those stats are, being realistic, inflated relative to how we could expect those players to perform in the league in 2011/12.
One of the main reasons is that you're the fifth/sixth best club in a league with three financial powerhouses and another club, Arsenal, whose are not quite on a part with the others but are still far wealthier than you. They can all afford, to a greater or lesser degree, to take the sort of player you would love to have and put up with his inconsistencies and moods by having another player also on high wages/big fees to replace him. Man Utd could afford to buy Berbatov, test him out with Rooney, find out it wasn't working, sit him on the bench, buy a few other strikers, try them out, sell some, keep the successful one, and will probably sell Berbatov at a considerable loss (at least 1/3 of his fee) and will still be able to afford to take all of the money they get and possibly more besides, and re-invest it in a new striker. Similar things are true of City and Chelsea, and certainly are true to a greater extent for Arsenal than for you. They can afford to pay Van Persie and Fabregas massive amounts of money and accept their proneness to injury and them blowing hot and cold, without worrying about dropping out the CL spots that are so important to their financial model and paying off the stadium.
That's the biggest reason. Though you never know, the right player might become available in your price range. I hope you sign Adebayor and that he does brilliantly, and 'arry 'as an 'istory of doing quite well with African strikers and others of that mould. But since you can't guarantee CL football due to the financial muscle of the big four, it will be harder to persuade a player who could be playing for the fourth best team in Spain or third/fourth best in Germany or wherever. You can compete with those clubs financially and do well, but in the absence of CL football you can't offer the sort of money those clubs ahead of you in the Premiership can offer to a'either/or' or possibly second choice player.
Nonetheless, you might get it right. It could have worked with Pav if he hadn't spent a couple of years losing sharpness and confidence on the bench. He has the right attributes, but to be fair has been quite poorly managed during his time at Spurs. Hence, he lacked the mentality to 'do stuff when he wasn't scoring' that you desire, despite having the ability.
I judged Bent so harshly (which I don't regret seeing as he still hasn't landed at the top club Kimbo, Coops and Tweeds always told me he would go to - no offence 'baser) as the dynamics of our team at the time (Jenas-Zokora CM) exploited all of his weaknesses.
I know, but by Christ is it fun to tease you about it since he's actually done pretty well, albeit for second-tier teams, and since your own preferred players have gone off the boil.
The current bunch have been found out for what they are really, either too inconsistent (Defoe), too mentally flaky (Pav) or too shit (Crouch, Keane) to be a lead striker for a CL team, and the quality of players in our midfield make them look even worse.
Crouch's goals got you into the CL, through the group stage, and past Milan. I think he's the most useful of your current crop of strikers, though only as a plan B sorta striker. But I've always liked Crouch, so I would think that. I certainly believe you should sell Defoe and Pav rather than selling one and bringing in another striker of similar ability who will only get so many games and never properly settle and blah blah the same problem squad-rotating strikers have at most clubs. Your whole squad is a bit like that - lots of good players, plenty of talent, but quite a number who are injured too often or are too inconsistent to really cut the mustard if you've got CL ambitions. The typical Redknapp squad in many ways. Big on numbers, big on talent, but never quite a properly gelled, integrated unit. I say sell two, buy one.
Home
) and there was talk of him being available for £5m in January 
