VHA on NSC
Banned
Exactly.
Indeed, hence it's odd that people are still so negative. However, despite how creative the signings were, it seems that the Poyet years when many of them were made, were too expensive for the bean counters.The Albion have been reasonably creative in bringing experienced Prem players like Kuszchak and Upson on modest fees. Plus some decent Prem loanees, probably the most successful being Wayne Bridge who was allegedly on £100k pw at Man C but we did a shrewd deal to pay a tenth of that. He showed tremendous commitment too rather than just rest on his wallet. We certainly got the best out of him compared to his stint for Reading. Stephen Ward may have been in a similar position, supposedly on silly wages at Wolves who were happy to let us subsidise him.
It seems quite clear that the club now favours a more patient approach of signing cheaper, low profile options in the hope that they will 'bloom'. Poyet did have this luxury when building from League One. A number of his players were allowed to grow with him. It seems he, your last manager, and a number of your fans aren't willing to exercise this patience. Perhaps the new appointment will buy into the philosophy, whatever it is, and not have a hissy fit at the end of the season. (Unless Bloom is misrepresenting his ambition and the means with which he promises to fulfill it, in which case he is being naughty).