The state of our recruitment

[Sly]

I think this needs its own topic. 
 

We’ve made some awful signings in recent years. 
 

Just read through this lot.

 

El Khannouss - £20m

Skipp - £20m

Buonanotte - Loan

Edouard - Loan

Fatawu - £15m

Ayew - £5m

Golding - £5m

De Cordova-Reid - Free

Winks - £10m

Cannon - £8m

Coady - £8m

Hermansen - £7m

Mavididi - £6m

Akgun - Loan

Casadei - Loan

Doyle - Loan

Faes - £15m

Souttar - £15m

Kristiansen - £13m

Tete - Loan

Daka - £28m

Soumare - £20m

Vestergaard - £15m

Bertrand - Free

Lookman - Loan

 

Fofana - £30m

Castaneda - £20m

Under - Loan

Tielemans - £40m

Perez - £30m

Praet - £15m

Justin - £5m

Bennett - Loan

Maddison - £23m

Ricardo - £20m

Soyuncu - £18m

Benkovic - £12m

Ghezzel - £12m

Ward - £12m

Evans - £3m

Iheanacho - £25m

Silva - £20m

Iborra - £15m

Maguire - £13m

Dragovic - Loan

Jakupovic - £2m

Diabate - £2m

 

Slimani - £28m

Musa - £18m

Ndidi - £16m

Mandy - £14m

Kaputska - £4m

Zieler - £3m

Hernandez - Free

Wague - Loan

 

Okazaki - £10m

Kante - £8m

Inler - £8m

Benelouane - £6m

Amartey - £6m

Gray - £4m

Huth - £3m

Fuchs - Free

Dyer - Loan

Ulloa - £8m

Kramaric - £7m

Simpson - £2m

Lawrence - £1m

Cambiasso - Free

Albrighton - Free

Hamer - Free

Schwarzer - Free

Upson - Free

 

Mahrez - £0.4m

Hammond - Free

Wasielwski - Free

Miquel - Loan

Phillips - Free

Bakayogo - Free

Slowly we’ve raised what we pay for lesser quality players. We had a system that appeared to be working quite well. Why did we change our approach? 

[Mickyblueeyes]

We broke a very good system by hiring congerton to appease Rodgers. I’m unsure on Glover, he’s had a lot of misses. 
 

Macia was hired after the 2016 summer debacle where Vichai lost patience and set out a never again attitude after a proper review. Get the best we possibly can. Top and his lot haven’t got the intelligence to deliver that. People call for Rudkin to go and rightly so. Who hires his replacement ? ****ing Top who couldn’t wash his ass in the rain. King Power II destroyed everything King Power I did. Now we work on luck. 

[Clever Fox]

Because Pearson was sacked,  Then Rudkin got promoted as DOF and it pretty much has went downhill from there.

 

We allowed Managers to change personnel etc when we should have kept the core of what Pearson builf intact.

 

We need to get back to basics. How do you do that, By signing people with a proven record of having done it before like Pearson, Walsh or Puel.

 

If we have to go down again so be it provided we get the right people into place.

[NAKC20]

Imagine what the list would look like as a Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool etc... fan. All teams make bad signings and many of them never make the 1st team squad. At least we dont pay £80+ million for a player and let him rot just so other teams cant have him

[Bilo]

A new DoF is obviously needed. Rudkin won't be sacked, but Dan Ashworth to nominally work 'under' him and with RvN would definitely be progress. 

 

Have Rudkin oversee us and Leuven, potentially managing the relationship between the two clubs and holding them to account, but have dedicated staff with a proven relationship in situ at both clubs. 

[BKLFox]

Think you could do a similar list for most clubs

[Blue ROI]

6 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

Think you could do a similar list for most clubs

That is true but how many would have had such a talented squad or favorable position and be relegated?

[Bert]

15 minutes ago, Bilo said:

A new DoF is obviously needed. Rudkin won't be sacked, but Dan Ashworth to nominally work 'under' him and with RvN would definitely be progress. 

 

Have Rudkin oversee us and Leuven, potentially managing the relationship between the two clubs and holding them to account, but have dedicated staff with a proven relationship in situ at both clubs. 

Dan Ashworth won’t be coming here. 

[Wink84]

My ratings for them. In terms of value, how they've played for us or potential for current players too. 

 

El Khannouss - £20m 7/10

Skipp - £20m 3

Buonanotte - Loan 9

Edouard - Loan 0

Fatawu - £15m 8

Ayew - £5m 5

Golding - £5m 2

De Cordova-Reid - Free 3

Winks - £10m 8

Cannon - £8m 4

Coady - £8m 4

Hermansen - £7m 10

Mavididi - £6m 7

Akgun - Loan 6

Casadei - Loan 4

Doyle - Loan 5

Faes - £15m 5

Souttar - £15m 3

Kristiansen - £13m 4

Tete - Loan 2

Daka - £28m 2

Soumare - £20m 2

Vestergaard - £15m 4

Bertrand - Free 0

Lookman - Loan 7

 

Fofana - £30m 9

Castaneda - £20m 7

Under - Loan 4

Tielemans - £40m 8

Perez - £30m 5

Praet - £15m 2

Justin - £5m 6

Bennett - Loan 0

Maddison - £23m 9

Ricardo - £20m 9

Soyuncu - £18m 7

Benkovic - £12m 0

Ghezzel - £12m 1

Ward - £12m 0

Evans - £3m 9

Iheanacho - £25m 5

Silva - £20m 0

Iborra - £15m 2

Maguire - £13m 8

Dragovic - Loan 2

Jakupovic - £2m 0

Diabate - £2m 0

[davieG]

Our biggest problem was not what we paid for them but paying them as if they were top 6 players making them impossible to shift when it was proved they weren’t good enough or the right fit

[Bilo]

8 minutes ago, Bert said:

Dan Ashworth won’t be coming here. 

A shame, but I do think the idea of a restructure has merit.

[Clever Fox]

The real problem we have is there's nobody with the inside Football knowledge at the Club. Not Top Whelan and certainly not Rudkin.

 

Imagine where we might be if we had offered Enzo more money to stay. That's how import the right Manager is.

 

But you also have to have the right personnel behind him in support and working together.

[Bilo]

2 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

The real problem we have is there's nobody with the inside Football knowledge at the Club. Not Top Whelan and certainly not Rudkin.

 

Imagine where we might be if we had offered Enzo more money to stay. That's how import the right Manager is.

 

But you also have to have the right personnel behind him in support and working together.

It's why I think the failure to appoint Potter was such a mistake. Bringing in a new DoF could have made a huge difference. 

 

I don't know what the answer is beyond taking Rudkin out of the immediate day-to-day running of the football club. 

[FrankieADZ]

56 minutes ago, Sly said:

I think this needs its own topic. 
 

We’ve made some awful signings in recent years. 
 

Just read through this lot.

 

El Khannouss - £20m

Skipp - £20m

Buonanotte - Loan

Edouard - Loan

Fatawu - £15m

Ayew - £5m

Golding - £5m

De Cordova-Reid - Free

Winks - £10m

Cannon - £8m

Coady - £8m

Hermansen - £7m

Mavididi - £6m

Akgun - Loan

Casadei - Loan

Doyle - Loan

Faes - £15m

Souttar - £15m

Kristiansen - £13m

Tete - Loan

Daka - £28m

Soumare - £20m

Vestergaard - £15m

Bertrand - Free

Lookman - Loan

 

Fofana - £30m

Castaneda - £20m

Under - Loan

Tielemans - £40m

Perez - £30m

Praet - £15m

Justin - £5m

Bennett - Loan

Maddison - £23m

Ricardo - £20m

Soyuncu - £18m

Benkovic - £12m

Ghezzel - £12m

Ward - £12m

Evans - £3m

Iheanacho - £25m

Silva - £20m

Iborra - £15m

Maguire - £13m

Dragovic - Loan

Jakupovic - £2m

Diabate - £2m

 

Slimani - £28m

Musa - £18m

Ndidi - £16m

Mandy - £14m

Kaputska - £4m

Zieler - £3m

Hernandez - Free

Wague - Loan

 

Okazaki - £10m

Kante - £8m

Inler - £8m

Benelouane - £6m

Amartey - £6m

Gray - £4m

Huth - £3m

Fuchs - Free

Dyer - Loan

Ulloa - £8m

Kramaric - £7m

Simpson - £2m

Lawrence - £1m

Cambiasso - Free

Albrighton - Free

Hamer - Free

Schwarzer - Free

Upson - Free

 

Mahrez - £0.4m

Hammond - Free

Wasielwski - Free

Miquel - Loan

Phillips - Free

Bakayogo - Free

Slowly we’ve raised what we pay for lesser quality players. We had a system that appeared to be working quite well. Why did we change our approach? 

its the Ayew one for me why i think Cooper had a bit of a say in regards transfers this window, as we've not paid £5mil+ for an outfield player over 32

dont get me wrong i think there are some solid players there, also highlights the facts we really do not scout or even have the balls to buy outside of europe

[orangecity23]

The money we've spent is only one side of the coin, it's the volume of those big money players who've left on frees that has done just as much damage. We saw

 

Tielemans

Soyuncu

Perez

Mendy

Amartey

Iheanacho

Evans

Praet

Silva

Slimani

 

All leave without raising a single pound in transfer income.

[Clever Fox]

3 minutes ago, Bilo said:

It's why I think the failure to appoint Potter was such a mistake. Bringing in a new DoF could have made a huge difference. 

 

I don't know what the answer is beyond taking Rudkin out of the immediate day-to-day running of the football club. 

Rudkin has to go I think if KP are serious about sorting out the mess. A proper proven DOF is needed urgently.

It's annoying in that we have Pearson who we know could do a job but it seems him and Rudkin didn't get on.

Puel or Moyes are 2 others who could do a good job too.

[nnfox]

The thing is, most clubs have a hit and miss record when it comes to signings.  There's so many variables that make a player "click", it's unreal... System, technical ability of teammates, attitude of teammates, coaching, housing, family arrangements, language barriers and more.  

 

Apart from a few superstar players that are a cut above the rest, pretty much every player is 50/50 whether they're a "success" at a new club.

 

With that said, what I continually cannot fathom why we buy so many players who don't make the starting line up.  Time and time again we spend weeks getting a deal for a player over the line, spending big money, and then put them on the bench.  Most seem lucky to get 20 minutes of action in their first few games and aren't given a fair crack.  The result is that we sort of strengthen the bench, but not the starting xi.  

 

Buy good players and play them.  The bench will look after itself.

[Clever Fox]

1 minute ago, orangecity23 said:

The money we've spent is only one side of the coin, it's the volume of those big money players who've left on frees that has done just as much damage. We saw

 

Tielemans

Soyuncu

Perez

Mendy

Amartey

Iheanacho

Evans

Praet

Silva

Slimani

 

All leave without raising a single pound in transfer income.

Again you have to say that's down to Rudkin as DOF. 

[honeybradger]

33 minutes ago, Wink84 said:

My ratings for them. In terms of value, how they've played for us or potential for current players too. 

 

El Khannouss - £20m 7/10

Skipp - £20m 3

Buonanotte - Loan 9

Edouard - Loan 0

Fatawu - £15m 8

Ayew - £5m 5

Golding - £5m 2

De Cordova-Reid - Free 3

Winks - £10m 8

Cannon - £8m 4

Coady - £8m 4

Hermansen - £7m 10

Mavididi - £6m 7

Akgun - Loan 6

Casadei - Loan 4

Doyle - Loan 5

Faes - £15m 5

Souttar - £15m 3

Kristiansen - £13m 4

Tete - Loan 2

Daka - £28m 2

Soumare - £20m 2

Vestergaard - £15m 4

Bertrand - Free 0

Lookman - Loan 7

 

Fofana - £30m 9

Castaneda - £20m 7

Under - Loan 4

Tielemans - £40m 8

Perez - £30m 5

Praet - £15m 2

Justin - £5m 6

Bennett - Loan 0

Maddison - £23m 9

Ricardo - £20m 9

Soyuncu - £18m 7

Benkovic - £12m 0

Ghezzel - £12m 1

Ward - £12m 0

Evans - £3m 9

Iheanacho - £25m 5

Silva - £20m 0

Iborra - £15m 2

Maguire - £13m 8

Dragovic - Loan 2

Jakupovic - £2m 0

Diabate - £2m 0

Justin was a good transfer, injuries have just knocked him down a couple levels but there's another world where we sell him for £30-£40mil to a big six 6 club if he stayed fit.

[Bilo]

11 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

Rudkin has to go I think if KP are serious about sorting out the mess. A proper proven DOF is needed urgently.

It's annoying in that we have Pearson who we know could do a job but it seems him and Rudkin didn't get on.

Puel or Moyes are 2 others who could do a good job too.

It's not personal; Rudkin just hasn't moved with the game. The successes we had for a few years were extraordinarily, but it went stagnant a few years ago. 

 

Puel would, I think, be superb at the recruitment side of things and is likely still held in high regard by the way he handled the tragedy of Vichai's passing. That 2018 transfer window looks fantastic compared to what has followed since.

 

His tactical failings and lack of charisma shouldn't be seen as impediments to his obvious eye for a player.

[Clever Fox]

45 minutes ago, Bilo said:

It's not personal; Rudkin just hasn't moved with the game. The successes we had for a few years were extraordinarily, but it went stagnant a few years ago. 

 

Puel would, I think, be superb at the recruitment side of things and is likely still held in high regard by the way he handled the tragedy of Vichai's passing. That 2018 transfer window looks fantastic compared to what has followed since.

 

His tactical failings and lack of charisma shouldn't be seen as impediments to his obvious eye for a player.

No it's not personnel and it's not all Rudkins fault either. The only mistake Pearson made when in charge was not replacing him. He was so far down the line managing the under 8s or something Pearson didn't see think it necessary to go that far down the line or see him as a threat. While he must have been engraciating himself to Top.

 

Puel knows the game well and was lied too when here and got a raw deal in my opinion. He was asked to rebuild the team and he'd be given time. Then when we lost a few games and the fans were moaning he was sacked.

He certainly proved he had a good eye for players during his time here. He'd be a good DOF.

Edited 14 December 2024 by Clever Fox
typo

[Clever Fox]

We have to hope Ruud has a good eye for signings and brings in a few good Coaches from Holland to help him.

 

This is the area we need to spend what's needed first. Then the  rest will fall into place.

[Bilo]

2 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

No it's not personnel and it's not all Rudkins fault either. The only mistake Pearson made when in charge was not replacing him. He was so far down the line managing the under 8s or something Pearson didn't see think it necessary to go that far down the line or see him as a threat. While he must have been engraciating himself to Top.

 

Puel knows the game well and was lied too when here and got a rae deal in my opinion. He was asked to rebuild the team and he'd be given time. Then when we lost a few games and the fans were moaning he was sacked.

He certainly proved he had a goos eye for players during his time here. He'd be a good DOF.

When you consider that his summer here saw him bring in Maddison, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Evans, you see that Rodgers' success was built on Puel's recruitment. Maddison from Championship Norwich, Soyuncu from midtable Freiburg, Evans from relegated West Brom for £3m and Ricardo from the periphery of Porto's squad after a loan at Nice. Absolutely A1 recruitment that built the spine of a team that played genuinely outstanding football, won us two trophies and regular European football. 

 

It pretty much went south when Rodgers got what he wanted and we put Congleton in charge of recruitment.

[Dan]

Culture of zero accountability breeds bad results. Colour me shocked.

[Aus Fox]

1 hour ago, Sly said:

I think this needs its own topic. 
 

We’ve made some awful signings in recent years. 
 

Just read through this lot.

 

El Khannouss - £20m

Skipp - £20m

Buonanotte - Loan

Edouard - Loan

Fatawu - £15m

Ayew - £5m

Golding - £5m

De Cordova-Reid - Free

Winks - £10m

Cannon - £8m

Coady - £8m

Hermansen - £7m

Mavididi - £6m

Akgun - Loan

Casadei - Loan

Doyle - Loan

Faes - £15m

Souttar - £15m

Kristiansen - £13m

Tete - Loan

Daka - £28m

Soumare - £20m

Vestergaard - £15m

Bertrand - Free

Lookman - Loan

 

Fofana - £30m

Castaneda - £20m

Under - Loan

Tielemans - £40m

Perez - £30m

Praet - £15m

Justin - £5m

Bennett - Loan

Maddison - £23m

Ricardo - £20m

Soyuncu - £18m

Benkovic - £12m

Ghezzel - £12m

Ward - £12m

Evans - £3m

Iheanacho - £25m

Silva - £20m

Iborra - £15m

Maguire - £13m

Dragovic - Loan

Jakupovic - £2m

Diabate - £2m

 

Slimani - £28m

Musa - £18m

Ndidi - £16m

Mandy - £14m

Kaputska - £4m

Zieler - £3m

Hernandez - Free

Wague - Loan

 

Okazaki - £10m

Kante - £8m

Inler - £8m

Benelouane - £6m

Amartey - £6m

Gray - £4m

Huth - £3m

Fuchs - Free

Dyer - Loan

Ulloa - £8m

Kramaric - £7m

Simpson - £2m

Lawrence - £1m

Cambiasso - Free

Albrighton - Free

Hamer - Free

Schwarzer - Free

Upson - Free

 

Mahrez - £0.4m

Hammond - Free

Wasielwski - Free

Miquel - Loan

Phillips - Free

Bakayogo - Free

Slowly we’ve raised what we pay for lesser quality players. We had a system that appeared to be working quite well. Why did we change our approach? 

Am I right in saying that only Mahrez, Maddison, Kante and Fofana have been resold for profit in that time?

 

The other big thing is the contracts they’ve been given - The actual transfer fee really doesn’t matter - it’s the frankly ridiculous wages, even by Premier League standards players have been put on. 
This makes them not only huge liabilities, but also as we’ve seen with the likes of Praet, Vestergaard, Soumare, Ward they are priced out of a move and we need to let their contracts run down.