davieG Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Merc Leicester City football director Andrew Neville has hit out at the critics who have accused the club of trying to buy promotion and the way they have conducted their transfer dealings.City recruited 12 players during the transfer window, but Neville said the suggestion from some parts of the media and among fans of Championship rivals that City have been using their financial might to muscle their way to the Premier League was irritating. He also revealed that they had not actually spent as much as had been widely reported this summer. He also dismissed any suggestion that City had not conducted themselves properly in their pursuit of targets, after Reading manager Brian McDermott criticised City last week for unsettling winger Jimmy Kebe, although the Mercury understands no attempt to sign Kebe was made by City on transfer deadline day. "The suggestion we are buying promotion is getting a wee bit irritating," said Neville, inset. "You could say the same about Manchester City and Chelsea. I am sure West Ham and Southampton have spent a lot of money. "We have just tried to get the best value we can on the players we have been targeting." Some reports have suggested City have spent as much as £15 million this summer but Neville said the truth was considerably less than that figure. "Some of the fees we have been quoted as paying for players is ridiculous," he said. "They have just been inflated. "In most deals there is an element of the fee that is guaranteed, and part of that is dependent on appearances and success, because the buying club is safeguarding itself. "The headline fees we have been quoted as paying are way out of line. I have not seen them all but I have been kept aware of them and seen some on television. "We are known to have investors who are willing to invest in the squad, so right from the start our position has been more difficult. "I have been asked to give value to the owners and pay only what we think is right to pay. We have withdrawn from deals where we felt it wasn't right to pay that much. "I don't think we have paid over the odds for anyone. I think we have got good value for the club in every deal we did. "I think it is easier for me to say that in August. You should never judge a player after two or three games. "The good value will be determined by how he performs over a season or possibly two or more." Neville said he had been complimented by other clubs in the way City had gone about their business during the window. "In every deal we have done with another club we have contacted the club in the normal manner, and I have had a number of clubs say to us that we are the only club that has dealt with the situation in the normal, standard way," he said. "If there is any criticism I would imagine that is more to do with alleged approaches than factual ones." And Andrew Neville has called the last transfer window the most stressful and draining he has experienced in his 13 years with Leicester City. City's football director is the man who has had to negotiate and complete all of City's transfer deals this summer. But he admits trying to complete City's 12th new arrival on transfer deadline day last week left him shattered. The deal to sign striker Jermaine Beckford was done with literally seconds to spare and Neville said he felt intense pressure to complete the deal with Everton in time. "That was probably the most stressful transfer deadline I have ever had," he said. "We knew there was an end to it but we also knew we had to get the business done. Going back to the end of last season, we always knew the last piece in the jigsaw would be a striker. "That was our aim and when it got to last Wednesday we had opened discussions with Everton for Jermaine Beckford. They took some time to complete, plus the discussions with the player and the agent. "We knew about David Nugent's hamstring injury (which will keep him out for more than a month) so we put more pressure on ourselves to get it done. "It was getting to the stage when it was a little bit fraught. The hours were ticking by and by the latter part of the afternoon we had actually agreed everything, by around about 7.30pm or 8pm. But with three hours to go, Jermaine was still in Liverpool. "I think Jermaine actually arrived between 10pm and 10.30pm and there were a whole lot of documents to sign. "He still had to reach an agreement with Everton over something, we had some paperwork to do with Everton, and Martyn Waghorn was waiting to go to Hull because we had agreed a loan deal for him, but what we couldn't do was sign those documents just in case there was a last minute hitch with Jermaine. "We actually started to register Jermaine at 10.59pm and just before 11pm I sent the papers to the league and the FA for the Waghorn deal. Hull were doing a deal on the back of that, so Jay Simpson could join Millwall if they got Waghorn in. "A number of clubs were doing that, backing up deals where they were prepared to let players go but only if a player came in. "I have had ones over the years which have been very close but, if we missed out, it was just unfortunate. But this was particularly stressful and I put myself under pressure as well because I have been quoted in the past by saying we would have a striker in by this or that date. "I got home about 2.30am or 3am and I was absolutely shattered. I took Friday and the weekend off. "But there is also a sense of satisfaction as well because now we feel we have signed a striker with the capability of scoring goals. There are no guarantees of course. "If you add Jermaine to David Nugent and the other strikers, we feel we have completed that jigsaw." Neville said City now feel they have the core of a squad capable of competing for promotion. "I think it has been very successful," said Neville. "We had a lot of targets in each area, and if you went through that particular list I would say in the vast number of cases we did get the player we were trying to get. "We are not going to be smug but we are relatively satisfied with the squad we have put together and now we have to give them a chance to bond as a team, and there have been signs of that in the last couple of games. "I think we have assembled a squad that ought to be very competitive in this division. "Getting promoted will be very difficult, but if we can keep in the picture and keep picking up points, we will be in the mix. There will be some twists and turns along the way. "We have to just keep cracking at it, but we have got players who are used to playing 46 games a season and a lot of them know what it takes to be successful in this division. "But I am not relaxed because I don't think you can relax. "We aren't in the business of relaxing, we are in the business of trying to be successful."
purpleronnie Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Its true we've spent a fair amount but not as much as fans seem to think, plus when your linked with so many top players it gives a false impression as a lot of the players didn't sign.
MC Prussian Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 I like the open approach and I appreciate that the club has an trustworthy and calm individual at the helm of players acquisitions. Of course, one should still rather take those numbers with a pinch of salt - the truth lies somewhere in the middle, I reckon. So given that we've "allegedly" spent close to £15m on players this summer, I take it the actual number is more in the region of £10m (Beckford deal included)?
Fox92 Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 We're Leicester City, we're not buying the league
Nunny Fox Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 ill buy him a pint if i ever see him The Sun ' Leicester have splashed out on two pint of lager and a packet of salted nuts, this treble swoop is set to cost a reported £3.5m'
Houdini Logic Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 To be fair, the following quote is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing he could possibly say... 'You could say the same about Manchester City and Chelsea'
coolhandfox Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 To be fair, the following quote is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing he could possibly say... 'You could say the same about Manchester City and Chelsea' Why?
Criggers Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Why? "We're not buying the league." Exactly what Abramovich did do and the Sheik is trying to do.
coolhandfox Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 "We're not buying the league." Exactly what Abramovich did do and the Sheik is trying to do. I didn’t say we were, I was asking why Houdini Logic thought it was most ridiculous thing he could possibly say.
Houdini Logic Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Why? Because people do say the same thing about Man City and Chelsea! I think it's fair enough for him to come out and downplay the money we have been spending, but to lump us in with Man City and Chelsea in the innocent way he is implying is bonkers. If he doesn't think they have/are trying to buy the League then I'm genuinely terrified that he's a member of our board!
Criggers Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Because people do say the same thing about Man City and Chelsea! And wouldn't be far off the mark. Wouldn't you say?
Houdini Logic Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 And wouldn't be far off the mark. Wouldn't you say? Exactly. Silly comparison to make given the context
Guest MattP Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Exactly. Silly comparison to make given the context Agree very daft thing to say, effectively admitted it :-/ Are we trying to buy the league? Of course we are, I don't think anyone with half a brain could deny that, that's the situation we are in though.
Babylon Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Exactly. Silly comparison to make given the context How much bad press do they get though? If anything the media love them, where as from some quarters we get nothing but critisism. I think that's the angle he's coming from rather than denying we are spending to get promotion.
Lambert09 Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Our situation is different because we had so many loan players last season although we have spent a lot most has been used to replace the players who hhave departed which most clubs wouldnt have to do. Why arnt west ham getting the same hate off teams in te league?
MrSpaM Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 I think the fact that the Beckford deal being touted as 4.5mil+ on transfer deadline day, when we now actually know it was closer to 2.5mil tells you a lot about the numbers we hear thrown about by the media.
Dan Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Good that this needed saying, I find the anti-Leicester stuff actually beyond cringeworthy, and it really pisses me off how Brighton have signed Vicente and are getting praised for such a coup - yet you know for a fact if we'd signed him, we'd have been slated left, right & centre. Fvck it, let the rest of the nobodies be bitter, will make victory all the sweeter. I do agree though that the Man City/Chelsea comment was an absolute joke, it's like trying to deny you've got a squad of youngsters whilst comparing yourselves to Arsenal. Either way, two good articles.
Lambert09 Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Really annoys me that Crawley are being bummed by everyone from coming up from non league..but they are just doing the same as us.
He's not bald Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 The Sun ' Leicester have splashed out on two pint of lager and a packet of salted nuts, this treble swoop is set to cost a reported £3.5m' You get a round in at a certain watering hole in south west Leicester and that's not far from the truth!
Raj Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 When Andrew Neville talks,you listen. He is a top man,not a bulllshitter unlike so many!
MC Prussian Posted 6 September 2011 Posted 6 September 2011 Even Chuck Norris listens to Andrew Neville.
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