DSF -
Levy's always confidently stated that the stadium build would never affect the transfer policy, true. However, much of that was said before the effects of the financial crisis became fully apparent. Cheap credit dried up, and is presumably still much harder to find than in the pre-2008 era. That presumably has had an effect on our ability to spend on the team. Ditto the money spent on the Stratford affair, which in all likelihood did come out of the club coffers, due to the suddenness of the whole affair and the need to move quickly. Ditto the increased wage budget, which remains at a CL level despite our last involvement in the competition coming a season and a bit ago. Ditto the new training ground, which has probably swallowed up much of the money received from the increased commercial deals we've signed over the last few years. All these things have impacted on our ability to spend.
Finally, there are very few players who can make a difference to the side at this point in time. It's no use going for the likes of Fletcher or Pogrebynak- they wouldn't elevate us to the level we want to be at. We're currently on the rung directly below the big boys - above the majority of our rivals but below the real giants of Europe. To get us up to their level, we need
a)Champions League footie, and
b)world-class players/coaching staff.
Now, we reach the crux of the problem - world class players will only come to us when we secure Champions League footie. However, with the massively competitive nature of the PL these days, we need a world-class player or two just to qualify for the aforementioned competition. So, we need players who will only come to us if we qualify for the CL, but we need those same players to help us qualify for the CL. It's a difficult situation to be in, but it's one we now find ourselves stuck in.
There is a way out of it, which is signing young, talented players who have slipped under the radar somewhat. Sandro was, and remains, a prime example of this type of signing. However, I very much doubt Redknapp even considered players from outside the PL and England, unless they were either very, very good (And thus well-known) or proven over the years (and thus on high wages). Thus, we find ourselves with no real targets to pursue other than the ones that, as mentioned before, are very unlikely to consider dropping to our level when they can simply wait for the bigger boys to come and pick them up. It's intensely frustrating.
AVB will change that, I'm sure of it. His scouting system will likely encompass a broader range of players, and we will eventually start picking up those raw diamonds, the ones that can make a difference to our team without being too expensive.
However ,for the moment, we're playing a really, really difficult game, and hence I'm not surprised we're not making much progress. I'm frustrated and angry, of course, but not surprised.
I look at the likes of Paulo Dybala('the new Sergio Aguero'), picked up by Palermo for a relatively minor fee, and I wonder why we aren't in for these players. Then I remember that the system we had in place for years has only just come to an end, and it'll take time for a more extensive, deliberative scouting system to be set up. IN the meantime, hope and pray, that's all we can do.
