Drivel.
Maybe if you don’t do your due diligence and sign wasters like Grezda and Pena, but if we want to go to the next level, we need spend in this position.
For 4/5m and proper scouting, we should be able to get a player with a good chance of 12-14 goals a season and 8-10 assists.
It's not drivel, it bears out in the data. Even in the English Premier League.
The fact that we have more Bosmans than they do, plus spend less on elite players, means the correlation is even stronger.
Consider our permanent signings for the previous seasons (using Transfermarkt as the source for fees paid):
18/19:
Goldson: 3m
Barisic: 2.2m
Katic: 2m
Grezda: 1.8m
Murphy: 1m
Lafferty: 450k
McGregor: Free
Arfield: Free
Flanagan: Free
Davis: Initial loan, now Free
The success rate for players who cost us money: 2 or 3 (depending on how you class Murphy as a success) out of 6.
The free transfer success rate: 3 or 4 out of 4, depending on your view on Flanagan.
Haven't included Glenn Kamara in either category because he was a free that then signed for cash, but again he only cost 50 grand.
Won't list the players, but for 17/18 it's a similar story.
Players who cost transfer money: 2/8 (3/8 if Docherty comes good)
Free transfers: 1/2
For 16/17:
Players who cost money: 0/3 (Garner, Hodson and Alnwick)
Free transfers: 2/9 (Hill and Windass) (God that was a terrible couple of transfer windows).
So, in total that's a success rate over the last few years:
Players we spent a transfer fee on: 4 or 5 out of 17
Players we got for free: 6 or 7 out of 15.