You clearly have been asleep the last decade if you think Southgates 3 years were dog turd. Strachan and then Woodgate set a new bar for dog turdyness that was way beyond Southgates efforts with the team being asset stripped from under him.Well that makes up for being absolute dog turd as a manager for us
Asset stripped indeed, 6M on Mido and 12M on Alves, 5M on O’Neil and 4M on Digard, sold Morrison and Cattermole for a pittance, wrong players bought to fight to stay in this league
Southgate is on record as saying he did not buy Alves. Southgate never negotiated, fees Salaries etc. Good players were sold replaced by inferior players. Why do you think Southgate, someone with no managerial experience had full responsibility for buying and selling when in all thats clear since, managers and coaches have reported players being brought inagainst their wishes? Downing himself confirmed AK did not want him. Other examples of alleged gifts exist.
Southgate was thrown in at the deep end with inferior players on the back of huge wave of euphoria having won a cup and 2 yrs of european football. The model that got us there was clearly unsustainable. We had our day in the sun. A recession loomed tough financial decisions had to be made Southgate had to make a silkpurse from a sows ear, he couldn’t but then i am not sure pep could have kept us up with the squad he was provided with.
Southgate is on record as saying he did not buy Alves.
No Keith Lamb is on record as paying the fee for him.
The question was something like, "what idiot paid £13m for Alves?" & Lamb said "that would be me."
People have taken it that Southgate had no say in the signing but I've not seen that reported by any of the parties.
He categorically was quoted in a national newspaper as saying he did not sign Alves. I haven’t found the particular artical yet, but this gazette article refers to the quote and has Lamb refuting it, but I guess he would. I see no reason for the highly respected ex captain, manager and current England manager to make it up. Others will no doubt say the same for Lamb, but given we know other players have come in that the manager did not want, the club appears to have form, or was Downing fibbing when he stated AK did not want him too, on Radio Tees?
Lamb Reacts To Southgate Claimm
"I'm delighted to have completed the deal," said Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager. "His goalscoring record in Holland in particular but in Sweden too has been prolific. We hope he will reproduce that sort of form for us in the Premier League."
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/feb/01/newsstory.liverpool1
The quote in Gazette is brilliant:
"I wanted Brett Emerton and we could have had him for £750,000. That was one where I was told we had no money, but then years later we bought a £12m striker.”
"I told him we had no money ..................................and then years later spent £12m on a striker he didn't want"
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