More of the Williamson’s, less of the Marcelino’s.
Posted on May 15th, 2010 | 107 Comments |
Williamson was signed by Portsmouth in September 2009 but was subsequently forced to play in the reserves as the financial rot set in at Fratton Park. That meant that the South coast club couldn’t afford to pay any more of the fee owed to Watford if he made a first team appearance, which was a shame on a personal level for him but ended up being beneficial for us.
When the new season starts and August rolls around it will see Mike being given the chance of playing top level football for the first time in his career. Again, the ability of Mike to be able to make the step up has been cause of debate between some fans. Some argue that he hasn’t played top flight football for a reason, others say he was just unlucky at not getting his chance last year with Portsmouth. Given that he hasn’t put a foot wrong, other than on his surf board, since he has been here then surely he deserves his shot at the big time, and I will be backing him to succeed.
Williamson has been viewed as somewhat of a bargain basement capture, a tag that is probably quite appropriate given the alleged fee involved but is a tad unfair when it comes to comparing the price with his ability. Over the years we have wasted so much money on dross signings for defence such as Marcelino, who is probably still nursing a sore thumb as long as he is getting paid somewhere, Jean-Alain Boumsong and David Rozehnal, who all spring to mind.
Which leads me to my point. Spending a truck load of money on a player doesn’t guarantee that the signing will work out, we should know that most of all. What does matter is making sure that a new signing improves the team and is signed on merit, not reputation. Players like Wayne Routledge, Mike Williamson and even Danny Simpson have improved us as a team, although Simpson has looked questionable in recent weeks but he did look a lot better earlier in the season.
Leon Best is perhaps the most unsuccessful signing of the season for us, although I would like to see how he peforms once he scores a goal for us. There must be something there as he still gets called up by Trapattoni for Ireland. Hopefully with a goal and some confidence we can see him kick on from there. Despite being one of his critics, I would love him to shut me up with his goal scoring exploits on the pitch. Here is to hoping!
We know there isn’t going to be much cash made available this summer, certainly not figures like £20 million anyway, so on that basis it’s imperative we spend it wisely on players who will add to what we have already.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
This guy sums up the worse aspects of NUFC fans.
When he arrived people were like ‘who?’ or ‘im uninspired by this signing’
In the short time he has been here, I feel more assured when he plays then when Steven Taylor does!
This is the type of buy who is stable and solid, and will help us gain survival in the Premiership, not, as you say, the Marcelinos, and long may the ‘uninspiring’ buys continue I say.