Leste et interessant innlegg på Waccoe, som jeg vil dele med dere:
Bit of a long one this, but bear with it. I was wondering on a few posts on various threads regarding other clubs transfer policies compared to ours, and whether there is a right and a wrong way of going about creating a recruitment policy.
In my eyes there are obvious extremes- the panic-stricken loan market reliance (Sheff Utd), the reliance on whatever is available on pre-contract free transfers, and the splurge on players signed by their name often PL rejects etc on big wages. I would be rather worried if we F***ed into any of those criteria wholly, as they inevitably lead straight to League One, mid-table or at best, repeated failure to match the achievements of better organised set-ups.
Imo where Norwich and Swansea succeeded and equally where Cardiff and Notts Forest failed was that they have a style of play which is set in stone. It's a philosophy and a standard that they won't drop to accomodate new signings, nor do they sign players who don't fit into that philosophy. To get the right man they are willing to loan players from the Premier League, or sign players from lower divisions and their signings seem to be mostly hits.
Our policy contrasts sharply with those two examples. We simply seem to always want to change things, to add something diffferent, to bring in players in a seemingly haphazard way. One example of this imo is the signing last summer of Billy Paynter. He strikes me as a player who would thrive at this level if he had wide players going to the byline or delivering deep crosses. Instead our wide players all season cut inside well upfield and rarely attempted to pull back crosses or fire balls across the six yard box. He was a waste of a signing, not because we should have changed our tactics for him, but because he didn't fit our style at all, and therefore could not effectively deputise for Becchio. Another is McCormack who cost quite a bit of money, yet couldn't be accomodated in the 4-2-3-1 and spent most of the season out of the starting XI.
Contrast that with Swansea, who signed five players in the summer.
-Scott Sinclair for, according to their fans forum, £500,000 rising to £1m. Although quite highly rated, he'd had a stop start career, and Swansea was his ninth club. His highest league goals total prior to joining Swansea was two. Yet he fit straight into Swanseas play-style, becoming a crucial player and scored 19 league goals.
-Neil Taylor for £150,000 from Wrexham, a relatively unknown left back who had made his debut for Wales Under 21's. Again he fit straight in and became a key part of their back four, playing 30 games and has now been the subject of a bid from Newcastle.
Both of those were ideally suited to Swanseas play. The other three, the reserve keeper Ma-Kalambay was irrelevant and Augustien and Donnelly on free transfers were relative failures, both making few appearances and being loaned out before the season end.
In my opinion it doesn't matter from whom a player is acquired from, from what level they have played at or what their previous career entailed, nor does it matter particularly whether or not they are signed on loan and nor does it matter what fee if any is paid for them. Our acquisitions policy last season was haphazard, some good, some bad, some bizarre, several ill-fitting. Swansea's was streamlined and they weren't afraid either of signing free transfers, paying fees, buying lower league talent or loaning in players like Borini later in the season.
We have, like Swansea, a nucleus of a good squad, playing good football. The crucial thing is not to chase big name, fan-appeasing signings, but to carefully acquire players who enhance and compliment the established style, or allow us to be more flexible in formation (like Swansea signing Luke Moore and re-signing Leon Britton in January). I expect much better this summer, but I do worry that we rely more on Gwyn Williams little black book of agents rather than scouting and a set policy. I think we have more chance of turning into a Nottingham Forest/Cardiff perenial nearly-team rather than genuine promotion candidates going that way.
auren
