[quote author=David Byrne link=topic=33990.msg882480#msg882480 date=1244151018]
[quote author=Farkmaster link=topic=33990.msg882475#msg882475 date=1244150427]
[quote author=David Byrne link=topic=33990.msg882469#msg882469 date=1244150078]
He's spent upwards of 20 million on two players in 5 seasons, one wasn't even his main target. Other than that he's had to wheel and deal and build a firm foundation on a budget that wouldn't look out of place at a lower mid table club, hence the revolving door of players and squad upheaval.
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You are talking absolute nonsense.[/quote]
Who can argue with such insight. The net spend never tells the full story and is just a convinient excuse to undermine the manager.
When he first arrived he had to rebuild a woeful squad and waning club on a pittance, having to sell to buy, which is still the case today, and unable to shop in the top end of the market due to an inept chairman. Of course there's going to be mistakes with that kind of strategy.
It was only when the yanks came in was he able to finally open the purse strings a bit, although he still had to wheel and deal and offset any major purchaes with sales.
In the main, when he's had decent money to spend, he's spent it well. The main difference being he has little margin for error compared to those around him.
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Why don't you respond to the content of the post.
The net spend is one indicator amongst many of how much spending power a manager has. Rafa has made good and bad decisions, though this last transfer season was a massive failure. Every manager needs to offset major purchases with sales, if nothing else because the squad would be even more bloated otherwise. He's never had to sell a player he didn't want to, and he has made some massive failures, particularly this last summer.
You won't get any debate from me that he has got us in a better position than we were in, and you won't get any debate he has less margin for error than Chelsea/Man U, but the idea that he's not been adequately supported with player purchases is just not in the realm of reason. Unless we had an owner that didn't want to run this as a business, regardless of ownership, our player purchases would be around where they are now - until the stadium was built.