You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money though.

But any transfer is a gamble, really. My point was more that a manager with an adventurous transfer policy (I'm thinking particularly of Sam Allardyce, and Redknapp at West Ham and Portsmouth) will put together a decent global scouting network that finds good players cheaply.

OK, in the position we're in we wouldn't be signing a Hierro, a Djorkaeff, an Okocha or a Nakata, but a Jaidi or a Gera or a Kinkladze or another Safri would be perfectly possible if we had a system in place to find them, and a manager prepared to look.

Posted By: Ottosson Foxtrot, Aug 24, 02:57:59