I said nothing about signing the best players in the world every year, but for a club of our stature our recent record is very poor. Bayern, for instance, have no sugar daddy, and have succeeded in acquiring some pretty good players.
It's about straws in the wind rather than absolute knowledge. The Tevez case is at least partly a matter of public record. Immediately after we signed him on loan, Gill was on television saying that we intended to sign him to a permanent contract 'long before' the expiry of the loan. Repeatedly during his first year with the club Tevez told the media that he'd sign a contract 'tomorrow morning', and that money was not important. But we reneged on our public committment and failed to offer him a contract, despite his being an obvious asset to the side. Why?
From media reports it seems that Gill was playing hardball with Joorabchian and trying to pressurise him into letting Tevez go for less than the previously agreed price. A conspicuous piece of bad judgement on Gill's part, which eventually cost us the player. That suggests someone who's overly concerned with money, and too little concerned with having the best possible players we can afford at the club. Just what one would expect of an accountant.
