A
And yet it is amazing how those signings were lauded at the time as a sign of 'great ambition', and Pep's appointment declared (yet another) mystical sign of DE's great genius. 'Best chairman we've ever had, I tell ya!'
It was all onwards and upwards. The old model was defunct. Ridiculous! We could now sign players from Barcelona we were so great. And we were paying 800k for Marco van Basten. Or, rather, paying nothing for Gino van Kessel.
Hopefully some supporters who should have known better will be able to view events going forward with a slightly calmer, more rational view rather than being fooled by smoke and mirrors.
Robinson may or may not be a great manager, but - to my intense relief - the thick smog of bullshit that has been hanging over the club seems unlikely to persist with him around. He carries a sense of real world perspective that has been sorely lacking in the Alice in Wonderland era we have been living in. Inasmuch as Tiger has said/done anything, it has also been refreshingly detail orientated and bottom up, rather than grandstanding and self-congratulatory.
If the financing is in place and sufficient then (if they can dig us out of the hole we are in over the next few weeks) that sort of honesty and endeavour can start to rebuild something solid, in place of the farcical Potemkin village the club had become before they came in.