Savvy takes a look at the different views on the clubs transfer policy on deadline day…
Deadline Day: It`s like a cross between Christmas Day and Halloween. On the one hand each and every fan is hoping for a wonder-signing, a marquee player who will make the difference and bring the club untold glory`s. On the other hand (unless you`re a Citeh fan), fans are extremely anxious on the impending horror of any briefcase-busting bid from a club considerably richer than thou.
Whatever does happen, it`s great entertainment. There`s always a Peter Odemwingie – a fall guy for whom a promised move doesn`t materialise, there`s always Harry Redknapp leaning out of his window, and there`s always TV crews, journalists and tweeters trying to create drama where there is none. These days, everybody`s at it. With live feeds and Twitter updates, hardly anything comes as a surprise anymore and hardly anyone waits for the painfully slow official announcements.
So, when David McNally chose to put fans out of their misery at just after 10pm we knew that was indeed that. Opinions on the club`s success or failure in the window seem divided. There`s the school of thought that we need to stop thinking with a small club mentality, we need to push the boat out and show a statement of intent. Stoke, Fulham, Southampton and even Reading seem to have more money than us – “why don`t we just pay Celtic £10m for Hooper if that`s what they want,” they say. As a caller on Canary Call on Wednesday said, “Bassong is good, but we need a team of Bassong`s. We need to buy a new defence and at least one striker as well as Kamara.” Those in this camp are convinced we are now going down, they see QPR spending £12m and £100k per week on Christopher Samba and think that`s what we should do too. They remember Robert Chase and his unwillingness to invest in the squad and feel that we`re going the same way again… 10 years in the wilderness.
I beg to differ, and here`s why.
When the current Directors took on the club in the disarray of that summer in 2009, the precarious position caused a certain amount of hyperfocus (if only George Boyd had this ability) amongst the Suits at Carrow Road. They very quickly agreed a plan, appointed a superb manager and then ensured the clubs survival by negotiating new terms with the external debtors. As Mick Dennis said on Talksport last night,
“At that point no one thought that success on this scale was possible.
“They agreed to pay back all of the external debt if the club was in the Premier League for two seasons. This must have seemed a generation away back then, but now the club is obliged to honour that deal if, as we expect, they are a Premier League club on May 31st 2013.”
According to Mick, if the club had purchased Gary Hooper, “it would have been very tight”. So, that extra 1 or 2 million that would have secured Hooper may not seem very much but in the grand scheme of things it was incredibly important that the club thought with its head and not its heart even if everyone else was getting a little drunk on the intoxicating drama of Jan 31st.
Luciano Becchio is better than Steve Morison. He`s a better finisher and has a better attitude, he can also play up front with Holt. We`ve kept everybody else (and I dare say there were a few bids rebuffed), and we`ve also added Lee Camp and Kei Kamara. Like most, I wanted it to work out for Morison but frankly it hasn`t. So we`ve lost nothing and gained two strikers and an experienced goalkeeper.
I`ll take that over a QPR, Portsmouth or Leeds United approach anytime.
OTBC