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It’s hard to know what to make of this. My initial guess was that they got nobody in, and moved so many out, because they’re really struggling financially. Because GSB seem to be building for a sale, it’s all been very hand to mouth in recent years. https://twitter.com/jackrosser_/status/1356547795394719746
This is partly due to the eternal failure to make a profit on players but also the fact that the commercial revenues from the new stadium were not meaningful. Of course, if the latter is true then the pandemic shouldn’t really be a factor. The finances are so murky.
But if it’s true that money was available (this is questionable - the club have zero credibility in this area) then what are we to make of not signing someone? I think most would side with Moyes that having nobody is probably better than a Sully special on loan from Al Ahly.
I also *really* like that Moyes appears largely able to resist having players foisted upon him that he doesn’t want. I suspect Benrahma might be the last of those that we see for a while.
At the same time, this is an obviously foolish outcome, as Antonio is injury prone and we’ve no credible alternatives. Worse still, this is their best chance in PL history of making the CL. If you won’t invest now, you never will. It’s not “they just want to stay up”. It’s worse!
So how can we have had nobody lined up? Haller said his deal was agreed ages ago, and you don’t sell someone as soon as a window opens without having it lined up. It’s a *huge* failure of process to have not replaced him. We return to my old chestnut - no DoF.
Ostensibly this is now Sullivan, allied to Salthouse. Moyes can’t be totally blamed for this - he does have a day job, after all. A proper DoF should have a selection of viable options in place when the window opens, matched to our needs/budget with a clear hierarchy and approach
I do think fans underestimate how hard it is to sign *anyone*. Agents, weird clauses, Brexit law changes, families, money, personal politics - there are a million things to consider. But, that’s the job - and this was such a significant need. It’s unforgivable to have failed.
Broken record etc...but the failure to implement a proper structure within the club is a massive impediment to progress. This approach of using a single agent and going via the chairman was outdated in the 90’s. The football world has left us so far behind it can hardly see us
So when criticising GSB I wouldn’t draw it so bluntly as “ #GSBOUT they don’t want to spend money”. That’s too crude - the failure is refusing to build a structure to spend that money (the clubs money, by the way) efficiently. What an opportunity they appear to have blown.
I trust Moyes to fix that, but he’s not had enough time. The frustration is that seasons like this rile the Big 6. They HATE competition so we’ll see huge spending and more noise about revenue sharing/Super Leagues again this summer. It’s a golden opportunity missed. Again. Sigh
