Apologies mate, my previous answer to you was a childish attempt at point scoring. I was tired and pissed off last night. Not at you but in general.
So, I'm going to be totally genuine here, no games, no point scoring and no trying to be funny and I would appreciate if you (and others) answer in the same way. I know you have previously, just saying is all.
Of course Jose didn't use those words but the fact remains other teams with more spending power and, arguably, more attractive were also unable to get a striker. Saying that it's Levy's fault we didn't doesn't make sense and I'll explain why:
Our recruitment process has been a joke for a number of years. Who that is down to is debatable IMO. Yes Levy as CEO is ultimately responsible but we haven't had a DOF for a while now. I don't know who's "decision" that was. But I do have a number of questions that I honestly don't know the answer to, maybe someone on here does:
Did Levy agree to what Poch wanted in regard to a DOF ?
If so, is that still Levy's fault or should he be given credit for doing what the manager wanted, even if in hindsight it was a bad decision ?
How does our recruitment process work. Obviously we have scouts who have been given parameters to work under, such as age, sell on value, price and wages. Obviously some on here just shout "spend more money" but that's not going to happen under Levy. So how does it actually work ?
A scout identifies a player and submits a report to this "committee" we keep hearing about. ?
The player is discussed and Levy, the same as any chairman, has the final say regarding costs. ?
The manager at the time (Poch or Jose) then agrees or disagrees on signing the player ?
And this is really my issue;
If the above is true (or somewhere near the truth) Why do we keep buying fucking midfielders when everyone knows we've been crying out for a DM, CBs, FBs and yes another striker for the last two windows.
Whose fault is it really ?
Have the scouts not identified a striker, within the parameters set ?
If so they should be sacked, there are strikers out there, albeit they are the most expensive type of player.
Levy's for not "spending more money" ?
The manager at the time, for not saying "I don't want that lad, I want the money to be spent on a striker ?
Or is it (as I believe) a combination of all of the above ?
Levy has been reported as being a very tough negotiator but also as a very honourable one. Once a deals been agreed, nothing changes. Indeed an agent of a player we were after (Coutinho ?) even came out and said that a deal had been agreed with Levy, all the financials were agreed and it was Poch who then said he didn't want him and the deal didn't happen. So,obviously Levy listens to his managers.
If we look at the facts, we've bought in midfielder after midfielder, which were not needed. Spending over £130m in the last two windows without addressing the areas of the team which are desperately short.
If Poch or Jose really, really (desperately) wanted a striker and as any good manager should be, was in constant communication with Levy about it why wasn't at least some of that money used to buy one ?
That is the thing I really can't get my head around, if our managers were desperate for a striker why did we spend £130m needlessly (mostly) on midfielders, when we have evidence that Levy listens to his managers regarding signings ?
