by SCIAG »
18 Dec 2012 21:53
runrunrunrungilksey melonhead runrunrunrungilksey
Along the lines of
Steven Whittaker Free
Michu £2.2
D Murphy Free
Hugo Rodallega Free
Claudio Yacob Free
There were plenty of other opportunities that we would have missed out on because we were chasing and looking at championship players and I still would have gone for
Guthrie Free Mid
Shorey Free LB
Pog Str
ill give you michu as the only one we cou,ld have afforded who would have added alot to this team - but he was already going to swansea
Why couldn't we afford anyone else?
I think it would be more that those players aren't good enough. For example, Hugo Rodallega has scored 4 goals in his last 38 PL matches, and had fallen behind the likes of Franco Di Santo, Connor Sammon and Mauro Boselli in the pecking order at Wigan. Is Danny Murphy any better or likely to be any more effective than Guthrie?
Yacob and Michu, retrospectively, would have been fantastic signings. However, I think Michu would have preferred to sign for Swansea because of Laudrup and their style of play.
One of the problems is that we don't have nearly as many backroom staff now. Last time we got promoted, we had Coppell, Dillon, Downes, Gibbs and McDermott as coaches (plus fitness coaches and Bibbo). The first three left and were replaced by Rodgers and his men. When Rodgers etc. left, we didn't sign anyone else. There's been no net movement of youth (U18) coaches since Coppell left, and the only senior coach we've added is Cummins who focuses on the development squad anyway. Essentially, McDermott, Gibbs and Cummins are doing the work of five men. We also replaced McDermott internally, and if we have added more senior scouts then we haven't heard much about them. Steve Head came in too late to help us snap up people like Yacob.
TLDR: We need a bigger scouting network and a couple of extra coaches.