Revolving Doors

"I expect to lose a couple more players, not because I want to, but because I have to. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring in a couple to replace them, but whether I can bring players in of the same level remains to be seen". - Alan Pardew 28th July 2008.

I found the above comment a tad depressing, although I can't pretend to be surprised at the sentiment expressed. The clubs finances dictated that we would have to sell, but not being able to bring in players of the same level, shows that ambition is definitely running behind prudence at The Valley these days. As mentioned in a previous post, I suspect that our additional defender, and midfielder requirement, will have to be secured by the use of loans.

Given the lack of incoming activity, I do wonder what Alan Pardew's relationship with the Board is like though, as he appears to have got very little thus far, by way of a transfer kitty. It may, of course, be that he has to sell, to release funding, but given that Marcus Bent has gone, and Magic is almost definitely on the way as well, I would have expected that if a signing was imminent, then as soon as the Bent deal was announced, it would have triggered an incoming player for whom we had splashed out a transfer fee. This hasn't happened, and given Pardews statement up top of this post, I am not convinced that the situation will change with Magic gone. As for the other player of two to leave, I have to hope that it is Amady Faye.