Woody Review

[RedTillI'mDead]

There has been a lot of good press for Woody in recent times, but just how impressive has he been in the transfer Windows.

I'll start with the ins, but someone feel free to belp me out with the sales!

Obviously this is all speculation, we can't know quite how impressive or not he has been, but it's fun to speculate!

In (source - soccerbase for values):
Fellaini - £27.4m
Was available at £24m, other targets didn't work out. Got reserve choice and not a huge premium, but still over priced. Woody rating 4/10

Mata - £37.1m
Was one of Chelseas best players, yes maybe not wanted any more, but still managed to buy from one of biggest rivals. That being said there was an advantage from Chelseas point of view to strengthen us against rivals that season having already played us twice. Overall 7/10

Herrera £29m release cause, hard to say impressive, just standard business lined up well in advance. 5/10

Luke Shaw - £27m very expensive youngster, but Chelsea competition and rated one of best left backs, also English. You'd have to say fair but not wow business. 5/10

Rojo - £16m fair price, impressed for Argentina, overall fairly good business for relative unknown 6/10

Falcao - a loan at huge cost for a potential megastar. Given our lack of Champions League you have to say good business at the time even if expensive and didn't work out. 7/10

Di Maria - Madrid fairly happy to sell and we still paid £60m, but he was one of their best players and arguably a world xii. Price seems fair, convincing him to join a non Champions League club is good work. Again 7/10

Valdes - free top class gk, albeit recovering from injury. Seems good business even if didn't work out 8/10

Daley Blind - £13.8m sounds pretty cheap and likely work done on LVGs part, but overall good value 7/10

Depay - £31m expensive for a talented youngster, but arguably well worth it with huge potential. A deal struck at the last min. Feels like one of best deals even if price is arguably just the going rate. 7/10

Darmian £12.7m - another relative unknown, but fairly cheap to solve a RB problem. 7/10

Schweinsteigar - £14.4m sounds cheap for a man of his calibre, but might not be at his best and comes with astronomic wages. Good work to get him though for a fair price 8/10

Schneiderlin - £25m, probably a relatively easy signing to make, but good price when you compare to Shaw. Could easily have been £10m more. 8/10

Romero - free, sounds like a backup and can't go too far wrong for free 5/10

Overall I'd lean at 7/10 performance. Reasonable for the less known players, going rate/ fair for the others.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

He's done good business this summer, no doubting that. A CB and a forward would turn a very good summer into the perfect summer, keeping de Gea is also key. I'll judge it all in a month or so.

Edit* To be honest, apart from that calamitous first summer with Moyes, Woodward has been excellent. Even last summer we brought in Falcao and Di Maria -- OK, one was a crock, the other was a mental weakling and wanted to quit -- but both were world class names.

He gets an 8/10 from me overall, if he buys that CB and forward then 10/10. I also appreciate the fact that he's completely mugged Real Madrid and Bayern off this summer (might change if de Gea leaves).

 

[ottosec]

Depay was 31m Euros, not Pounds, so that's £22m in today's exchange rate.

Also Rojo costed us another £5m in Nani's wages + a percentage of the next sale, so I would give that transfer 4/10.

 

[Randall Flagg]

The deal for Falcao was agreed to be over 40 million if last season had worked out. This was more than what psg had paid for hiM two year ago and before a serious injury. That to me is not a good deal at all. As it was we paid over 10 mill plus his wages for a year and got practically no return

Speaking of no return you have been far too generous with the Di Maria one too. In no way shape or form was the player worth that amount of money.

 

[NK86]

The deal for Falcao was agreed to be over 40 million if last season had worked out. This was more than what psg had paid for hiM two year ago and before a serious injury. That to me is not a good deal at all. As it was we paid over 10 mill plus his wages for a year and got practically no return

Speaking of no return you have been far too generous with the Di Maria one too. In no way shape or form was the player worth that amount of money.

errrr... Monaco!

 

[NK86]

Depay was 31m Euros, not Pounds, so that's £22m in today's exchange rate.

Also Rojo costed us another £5m in Nani's wages + a percentage of the next sale, so I would give that transfer 4/10.

Where did you read that?

 

[Mindhunter]

Mata - £37.1m
Was one of Chelseas best players, yes maybe not wanted any more, but still managed to buy from one of biggest rivals. That being said there was an advantage from Chelseas point of view to strengthen us against rivals that season having already played us twice. Overall 7/10

He got Mata when Chelsea were hell bent on getting Rooney and that in my opinion was a great deal to get completed without entering into Rooney discussions. I would say 9/10.

Also, I think we should not put a lot of weightage on his first year since he did not have a lot of experience in handling transfer dealings. He looks like a pro now.

And we simply shouldn't discount the other work he is doing or else rename this thread to "Woody Review - Transfer Market". If we consider the sponsorship deals with Adidas and General Motors then it is 20/10 for him.

 

[Bojan11]

I don't really get the point of this thread.

The managers ask for most the players and Woodward gets them. It's nice to have a CEO who gets the players. Wish he was around when Hazard was on the market.

Woodward plays no part in who we should identify. It's not his fault Dithering Dave knew Fellaini had a release clause and then wants him after the clause has expired. Or could not figure out whether he wanted Herrera. And I don't know why you gave him a 5 for that. I guess Bayern execs get a 5 too for the Martinez transfer. It's either pay the buyout or get lost with them.

We were always going to overpay for Mata. Chelsea were hardly going to sell him cheap to a rival.

 

[sunama]

Its strange that some people are saying Falcao and ADM were bad deals.
In hindsight yes. But how was he or anybody to know that these were lemons?
Last September it was almost unanimous that Falcao was one of the best deals ever made by the club. We got a player like Falcao on a "try before your buy" basis. It doesnt get better than that.
Di Maria was rated so highly that some fans actually couldnt understand why such a player would play for MUFC. £60M was seen by some as fair value for what was believed to be Real Madrid's best player.

Of course, as season later, we know that Falcao was a joke. And Di Maria had no interest in playing in England. But you cannot blame Woodward or LVG for this.
I give Woodward top marks for getting Di Maria and Falcao.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

He gets a review every 2 weeks.

 

[Varun]

I don't really get the point of this thread.

The managers ask for most the players and Woodward gets them. It's nice to have a CEO who gets the players. Wish he was around when Hazard was on the market.

Woodward plays no part in who we should identify.

This. Will never understand judging him for who we buy.

 

[Sandikan]

darmian, schneidy, depay - nicely wrapped up, but all fairly straight forward

schweiny, fairly tough signing, but still not an essential name at Bayern.

We're not quite at that level where we can take key players from big rivals. I don't consider Di Maria to have been in that stable last year either.

It all seems pretty hard even with the biggest financial power we've ever had.

Hopefully it'll change when we get back to success.

 

[Raoul]

I don't really get the point of this thread.

The managers ask for most the players and Woodward gets them. It's nice to have a CEO who gets the players. Wish he was around when Hazard was on the market.

Woodward plays no part in who we should identify. It's not his fault Dithering Dave knew Fellaini had a release clause and then wants him after the clause has expired. Or could not figure out whether he wanted Herrera. And I don't know why you gave him a 5 for that. I guess Bayern execs get a 5 too for the Martinez transfer. It's either pay the buyout or get lost with them.

We were always going to overpay for Mata. Chelsea were hardly going to sell him cheap to a rival.

Neither do i. Not really sure what the point of rating Ed Woodward is.

 

[Brophs]

Good start, but if we end up losing DDG, not signing Ramos, or another top centre half, and not signing a striker, then it'll look a lot less encouraging.

 

[Raees]

Underwhelming thus far in this window, not really his fault but without a CB or new CF... we haven't really taken giant strides forward this summer.

 

[Acquire Me]

Woody is great.

 

[LazyRed-Ninja]

Underwhelming thus far in this window, not really his fault but without a CB or new CF... we haven't really taken giant strides forward this summer.

What on earth... are.. you.. talking... about... ? Underwhelming ?

 

[Amar__]

Some people are making it sound like Woodward is some kind of attraction which attracts players more than the club and money itself do. Most of his last year's signings were signings anyone could make in his place, we mostly paid what other clubs wanted for their player in the first place and we got those players. It's actually quite bad if you realise that our record signings were ones who their clubs wanted to get rid and still we paid the full price like they didn't want to sell.

The business with Nani and Cleverley is one of the most stupid pieces of business in football ever.

 

[Revan]

Bar the first summer, when everyone's favorite manager apparently had no idea what he was trying to do, Woody has been very good. He overpayed for most of the players last season, but he has been excellent this one. We have already managed to sign players from Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern, while we have yet to lose a player to an another top team.

If we add also the part what Woody has been doing in other aspects of the club, I don't think that I would have swapped him with any other CEO.

 

[Revan]

Some people are making it sound like Woodward is some kind of attraction which attracts players more than the club and money itself do. Most of his last year's signings were signings anyone could make in his place, we mostly paid what other clubs wanted for their player in the first place and we got those players. It's actually quite bad if you realise that our record signings were ones who their clubs wanted to get rid and still we paid the full price like they didn't want to sell.

The business with Nani and Cleverley is one of the most stupid pieces of business in football ever.

Neither of the players we signed this season were unwanted at their clubs.

Just that we overrate Nani and Cleverley doesn't mean that we should have got more money from them. There was a reason why no big club were interested for them.

We definitely overpayed on Di Maria, Shaw, Rojo and Herrera though. Herrera transfer couldn't have been done better knowing Bilbao, but I think that we should have done better in the other three (or look for alternative targets knowing their price).

 

[KingMinger22]

darmian, schneidy, depay - nicely wrapped up, but all fairly straight forward

schweiny, fairly tough signing, but still not an essential name at Bayern.

We're not quite at that level where we can take key players from big rivals. I don't consider Di Maria to have been in that stable last year either.

It all seems pretty hard even with the biggest financial power we've ever had.

Hopefully it'll change when we get back to success.

This.

I love Woody and he is clearly giving it his all. But getting the calibre of player we are crying out for in attack and defence is obviously very difficult.

The fact that from selling Ronaldo to bringing in LVG, we were minnows in the market while others gobbled (and are reaping the awards for) all the top players, is why we are here.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Rather than look at it from a player basis, you should look at it from the Managers point of view. Did he support the manager, did he go the extra mile when needed (or shy behind the 'there is no value in the market'), has the message gone out that we are serious players in the market. I think he has done all of that and should be given a 5/5. When we look at the other side of the coin, has he let us get taken to the cleaners by teams trying to buy our players, has he stood firm on player pressure who want out and has he allowed youth contracts to run down. I think this is a bit less obvious, so would probably side on caution and say 3/5. So overall 8/10.

 

[Amar__]

Neither of the players we signed this season were unwanted at their clubs.

I didn't say they were, I was talking about last season.

Just that we overrate Nani and Cleverley doesn't mean that we should have got more money from them. There was a reason why no big club were interested for them.

I don't think we needed to sell them for 50 million, but loaning them in given circumstances was really stupid. We were paying Nani to be Sporting's best player, and we passed on selling Cleverley and instead we got rid of him half a year later for free, how stupid was that?

 

[Amir]

and we passed on selling Cleverley and instead we got rid of him half a year later for free, how stupid was that?

I don't think we chose not to sell him. A deal just couldn't be done for some reason. Maybe the idea of getting a free transfer in a year's time really appealed to him.

 

[Revan]

I didn't say they were, I was talking about last season.



I don't think we needed to sell them for 50 million, but loaning them in given circumstances was really stupid. We were paying Nani to be Sporting's best player, and we passed on selling Cleverley and instead we got rid of him half a year later for free, how stupid was that?

No, we didn't. He was part of the Rojo deal. If we didn't send him there, then we would have needed to pay extra money for Rojo, while keeping a player that wasn't in LVG plans. It would have been even more expensive.

We didn't pass on selling Cleverley. He wanted to go to Everton, Everton didn't want to pay. We accepted Villa offer but Cleverley didn't want to be transfered there. Then it was either let him go there on a loan (and don't pay his wages), or send him to U21 and pay his wages.

 

[RedStarUnited]

Who would have thought 2 months ago that because of De Gea;

1. Madrid would have to pay Iker to leave
2. Buy a keeper they might not want/need
3. Extended Ramos contract on his terms rather not theirs.

Woody has made this a lot tougher for them than I or Perez himself surely expected. Its not going to be pretty when we want one of their players next time, But im sure Woody already thinks Perez f**ked him over the Di Maria price.

 

[Amar__]

No, we didn't. He was part of the Rojo deal. If we didn't send him there, then we would have needed to pay extra money for Rojo, while keeping a player that wasn't in LVG plans. It would have been even more expensive.

We didn't pass on selling Cleverley. He wanted to go to Everton, Everton didn't want to pay. We accepted Villa offer but Cleverley didn't want to be transfered there. Then it was either let him go there on a loan (and don't pay his wages), or send him to U21 and pay his wages.

Nani case, it was stupid however you look at it. I know it's like that as you say it, but then we overpayed for Rojo, so again it's a stupid piece of business, while losing winger we could use during last season. Ask Sly(Sporting) fan what he thought about the deal?

So, Cleverley played us and we allowed him that? How is that not stupid?

 

[RedStarUnited]

Nani case, it was stupid however you look at it. I know it's like that as you say it, but then we overpayed for Rojo, so again it's a stupid piece of business, while losing winger we could use during last season. Ask Sly(Sporting) fan what he thought about the deal?

So, Cleverley played us and we allowed him that? How is that not stupid?

We cant force a player to sign a contract for a team.

 

[Raees]

What on earth... are.. you.. talking... about... ? Underwhelming ?

It is, in relation to where we are aiming to be i.e. best team in europe/champions of england. I like every signing we have made but if we were to not sign any more players from here... and lose DDG/Di Maria, I would not see that as a brilliant window. We need to do much more if we truly want to be up there with the big boys.. which for a club this size needs to be.

 

[RedStarUnited]

@RedTillI'mDead

Romero - The worlds highest ranked NT number 1 keeper for free and to be a backup is worth more than 5/10.

How is Herrera a 5 and Falcao a 7? I feel like you are looking at it from the wrong point of view. Are you judging his signings in hindsight or at the time of the transfer? Imagine if he signed Carrick, using hindsight it would be a 9/10 transfer because 16m was a bargain for what he went on to become for us. But if you judge at the point of the transfer then 16m was a lot for a player who wasn't close to a 'Keane' - and everybody thought needed a Keane type of CM back in 06.

 

[Macern]

What a stupid thread. How can anyone rate him while not knowing the circumstances.

What if Southampton asked for £45m for Shaw, but LVG didn't want to go higher than £40m. Then Woody negotiated like a magician for weeks pushing the price down to £27m or whatever we paid, it'd be a 10/10 performance by Woodward. OP gave the Shaw signing 5/10 which would be stupid if my example above is true. My point is; we don't know if that's the case, or if say an opposite scenario is true, and this thread is pointless.

 

[Amar__]

We cant force a player to sign a contract for a team.

We shouldn't have allowed it to happen in the first place.

 

[Roman Bellic]

AdM 7/10? £60 million

 

[arthurka]

My review? A Full Woody. .

 

[Sandikan]

we've done a fairly sound job shipping a lot of wages out, and getting a bunch of players in fairly quickly together.

however, it still feels like we're spending a colossal amount of money for what you can feel that Van Gaal will still say isn't his team!

 

[Everest Red]

10/10. A fellow muppet.

 

[hbgreg]

Woody is not a DOF and probably knows very little about football. Personnel decisions go down to the manager, there are no "Woody signings".

 

[Ducklegs]

I can't help but read the OP in Alan Partridges voice:

"I'd rather you used a sausage as a break water, sometimes I might want to mix my eggs with my beans, but I want to be MY choice, overall a good effort 7 on 10, now let's make love"

 

[Heardy]

There is going to be a need for answers if Chelsea nick Pedro - assuming that LVG does want him.

Not sure I can see van Gaal pulling the party line to say that we were never interested so as to save face - but might say we'd rather give Januzaj a run out.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

If we've lost out on Pedro, and don't sign anyone else this window, then I'd say he's fecked up all the goodwill be built up in the early parts of the window.