So just what is going on here?

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

O and you're so knowledgeable are you??.. We are so lucky to have you on this forum with your words of wisdom.. We'll certainly learn so much from you!!!!... Everyone is entitled to their own opinion you know!!!!!

I remember your doom laden prophecies from last season, how did they turn out?

[sylofox]

You seem to be presuming the out of contract players would have wanted to stay on massively reduced wages.

Not at all. Are you presuming they would all have had such a massive reduction.

[Babylon]

Not at all. Are you presuming they would all have had such a massive reduction.

If we'd been able to afford to keep them on anything like the wages they were, we'd have offered them contracts. We didn't because we couldn't afford it as Pearson has pretty much stated. What you can lose under FFP has dropped again this year, that money needed to be found somewhere. 

[The_77]

"Here's Moore, in for Phillips, he leaves it to Nugent....it's NUGENT! And Leicester City have their goal."

 

Upon hearing these words as we rounded off the archetypal Champions display away at Leeds in January, surely all but the most deluded boo-boys knew we were going up, and nothing could stand in the way.

 

One of those people must have been Nigel Pearson. Preliminary planning for the 2014/15 season in the Premier League must have started then, if not earlier. A man who has built his reputation on getting business done early, discreetly and efficiently.

 

A confident, relaxed Pearson boasted in the early part of the summer that 'most of our transfer targets you've probably never even heard of'. Perhaps it was just me but I had visions of something quite different to the situation we now find ourselves in.

 

Let be me clear, this isn't a rant, or a moan. I have every faith in the squad that won the title last year, and I was, and still am of the opinion that our strongest XI in May playing every game would not have ended in the bottom 3 teams this season. But I don't think anybody would agree that this dispelled the need to get players in, that were either stronger or strong enough to challenge the first XI and motivate them to kick on. Not only because it would be a massive risk, but as we have already found out, the first XI can't and won't play every game. So additions were/are of the utmost importance.

 

Of course the most frustrating thing is that even this post is based mostly on speculation. But I am calling it an educated guess. It's the apparent failure of the masterplan, or digression from the planned road, that I feel you could forgive people for being worried about. The fact of the matter is all the players who have joined are players that everybody has heard of. We don't even appear to have gone in for anyone even remotely obscure, with the arguable exception of Slimani seeing as NP made that comment pre-World Cup. Was the comment a bluff from NP? A smokescreen? An empty boast? Add to that the fact that we are clearly still looking for players, and they are not joining, and I like many others am wondering what exactly is going on here?

 

Our most problem position, if we had one (LB), NP has not even looked like trying to address at any point this summer. Since Ulloa joined, any deals we have entered into have been drawn-out, fractious affairs shrouded in mystery. Of course discretion is not a bad thing, but only when there is an end product. Since the balloonhead comments, Pearson's comments on transfer activity have been increasingly cryptic and vague.

 

I guess what we all want is some reassurance, but we aren't going to get it as it stands. Measured discussion is our best hope of retaining sanity now.

 

Is there still a plan? Has the meticulous background work and research method been thrown out the window yet? What is going on here?

 

And seriously, Cambiasso can suck a dick and fvck off, the teasing little twat. This "transfer" "saga" has gotten people in a right state. If he joins we're MASSIVE, if he doesn't, well we're obviously still MASSIVE but we won't have Cambiasso, just Dean Hambiasso.

 

Anyone know why we should still be as confident as we were in May?

 

I don't know how you can possibly take "'most of our transfer targets you've probably never even heard of'" and have visions anything much different than what's happened so far. Sure, Cambiasso is a big priority for NP, and he may have missed out on some other targets; however, he was simply saying that the club was was interested in players that were were not well known, and he was absolutely right.

 

I can guarantee you that most people didn't know who Fanni and  Slimani were when NP made that statement. Hell, judging by a lot of the comments in the Transfer Talk thread, most people really had know idea who Esteban Cambiasso was.

 

NP also said that he would not make major changes to the squad. Why is everyone conveniently forgetting about that? I know the transfer deadline is looming, and the early season schedule is not helping people from panicking, but let's see how the season plays out a bit. The boys earned a good point against Everton, and they have a good enough team to hang around (at the very least) until the next transfer window.

 

Think about it: West Ham, Burnley, QPR, and Villa are not very strong teams. There are a bunch of other teams that give City opportunities for points. The season isn't over; it's barely begun.

[kingcarr21]

The thing is we could very well already have deals in place but are waiting for other teams to get the players they went to start the merry go round of transfers. Hence why im not worried one bit. Bring on deadline day and even if we dont sign anyone i still feel confident in the team we have already. Our performances last season could easily of beaten all the teams in the bottom half of the prem. No reason to panic just enjoy the ride.

[weller54]

I remember your doom laden prophecies from last season, how did they turn out?

Do you???.. I don't!!!

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

Do you???.. I don't!!!

Selective memory?

[Bagworthblue]

You can't and shouldn't try to buy a team. You should create a team and this takes time. Once you have strong foundations, nuture it, strengthen it bit by bit but don't make wholesale changes at any one time as this in effect creates a new dynamic which swallows up the successful unit you had.

 

When has adding lots of big signings helped us in the past? Sven? / Mad Dog?

What has building a team over time with a stable management structure achieved for us - Pearson

 

QPR appear not to have learnt from the past - this may come back to haunt them!

 

I am hoping we have now learnt our lesson!

 

All clubs should look to follow Best Practice and the best example of this would be to try to emulate Sir Alex.

 

Consistent Manager, Consistent spine of team, rarely bringing in a raft of new players over his tenure, occasional dips where the spine needed to be upgraded as players aged and they only added players they thought were right for their team otherwise none were added.