I did read your post actually...i read them twice
I just think that your reasonings behind some of the things, while having there good points, also have some weak points too.
You can't say that Barton or Ball aren't of Championship quality because (A) you haven't seen them play in a propper competative match and (B) as i said previously Ball has played in the Championship and had a very good record. The fact that Thorn twisted Derby's hand behind their back (using Keogh's sale) in order to get Ball shows that Derby weren't that chuffed about letter Ball go. They even said that they want him back and that there probably wont be a chance of us buying him at the end of the season. As for Barton, the fact that Liverpool nearly paid £5 million for him shows you that someone up there rated him very highly and if it wasn't for his injury, he'd probably be at Liverpool now. Whether he'd had been in the 1st team is anyones guess...
I'm not disputing that clubs don't snap players up straight away because they do, but if they're not willing to put their money into a player that may be unknown quantity (which is what all players are really in the beginning) then they'll leave that player alone until as such time as they feel he is ready to be bought. Its a risk any club has to take and some clubs have had brilliant results from it while others have had dire results. Buy them now and hope they turn out well or leave them another year to get more experience and hope they don't get snapped up by other clubs.
As for Bigi, its clear the lad has talent. It's clear he could be a very good player in a few years time and its clear he'll get some games in Newcastles 1st team as he's already played several high level european teams with Newcastle since joining them. Yeh your right, he wont play all their games but he'll play a few and be a substitute in a few too.
As for the other players that we've bought, they're are teams in League 1 that would die for the players we've got. Yeh we don't know whether they'll be good in this league but at the same time we couldn't afford players that we know are good because they're either out of our price range or don't want to come here. All players deserve a chance to prove they're worth the time and effort spent on them. Bigi showed that he was. Several players over the years have proved it too.
We can't truely say whether they'd have been better for our team or not last year because we don't know their quality just yet but at the same time we can say with some certainty that our team was poor last year and i think even two or three of these players would have given us a lift. Kilbane looks better than Clingan and his record both at club level and Internationaly is better than Clingans in my opinion. We needed a presence up front last year that we didn't have, Ball could have been that presence. It might not have got us goals but at least it might have made us a little more dangerous. Our midfield lacked a backbone and players like Jennings and Barton could (mention i said could, not would) have given us that backbone if we'd had them.
As for Brown and Norwood, i believe both came up through Man U's youth team and therefore, getting them in to loan them out doesn't count. They were already on Man U's books from when they were young and even when you loan someone out, you still pay for them to some degree (I may be wrong...someone needs to clarify this for me).
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So to sum it up (as your apparantly bored of arguing with me, when it fact i believe we were debating which is clearly different lol), you believe these players aren't good enough for the championship based on the fact that no championship clubs came in for them. So let me ask you...do you know that for a fact?? Did you consult your crystal ball
You claim that because these phantom championship clubs didn't come in for these players, they therefore aren't good enough when it could simply be that they are in fact good players that decided to come to Coventry because they felt it was a good thing for their career. We are notorious for making or breaking players careers...now thats a fact lol
Also to go back, you say that comparing Barton to Norwood isn't possible. Now i can actually see your point to some degree but if it wasn't for Cov, Norwood might still be at Man U instead of forging his career in the Championship. His loan to us gave him the stepping stone he needed to get regular first team appearances and it also gave him the confidence to ask for a transfer which is why he's now playing Championship football. It's clear that Barton had some talent and that his injury was what got in the way, who's to say he has lost it...only time will tell.
I also think that Thorn isn't jsut getting players in to fill positions and make a large squad...he's also getting players in who he feels, with a good bit of attention will become players of the future. Fleck, Barton, Jennings...they all fit into this catagories don't you think? Get them playing good and then sell them on would be how SISU see it but thats beside the point...I ignore SISU for the most part.
Lastly, i did read your posts and i know that overall your assessment of them isn't an insult...i just think that its a narrow way of thinking when you could look at it in a wider case and see that they're probably loads more factors behind why they are with us and not at a championship club. But that i think
only time will tell and im glad that we had this chance to debate this issue...i like a good debate
