Blu Bamboo, it's a total dive. The only reason to go there is to pick up drunk slutty girls...I'm there twice a week
I am on board with the optimistic bandwagon and am more confident about this season that I have been the last three years. However, I attribute the fact that we actually signed quality players who strengthen the side where there was weakness to the Big Sam factor. I have no doubt that we would have were have been in the same position whether Mr. Shepherd or Mr. Ashley were in charge of the purse. I am no Freddie Shepherd fan, but the fact is he gave that moron Souness more funds than Ashley gave Allardyce this season. So for me the squad and the gaffer are a huge step up from what we had last season but the jury is still out as to whether the ownership has significantly improved.
Sure Freddy gave lots of money to Souness, but look what happened once Roeder was in control; Freddy had no more money and we couldn't sign anyone. We were in debt for around 80 million pounds, I think. Ashley was able to pay down part of our debt and allow Sam to make plenty of moves in the market. Sure we didn't get the big Chelski signing, but that isnt to say that they didnt try. It is possible that they went after 4 or 5 guys that wouldn't come.
Not having Europe on our slate this year probably didn't help with those "big name" signings we may have been in the market for. But it does help in giving us a season that's easier to focus on and settle the solid players we did sign into a good core team. Qualifying for Europe next year and/or winning some domestic silver would make us look a good deal more attractive to those "big names" It'd be nice to have a look at the trainers and physio staff though, we seem to have a fairly bad streak of injury prone players. Is it something in how treatment is handled? Is our pitch and practice pitches somehow more brutal than others? It baffles me how year in and out over the past few, no matter who we sign, they fall prey to the dreaded injury list.
I think it's a good thing we aren't in any Europe competitions this season. It gives us a great opportunity to focus on pushing through the league and domestic cups.