This Sounds Familiar

July 23, 2009 at 10:46am by Scott

The Glazers must have a standard book they issue to everyone who represents them that contains form-letter answers to various media questions because I swear I’ve heard this before with regard to the Buccaneers. People want to know why Manchester United isn’t spending money on better players.

“The delay has been because the manager has not been able to locate the players he believes fit the Manchester United mindset – players who are motivated to play for United. You don’t want mercenaries and you don’t want to pay over the odds for players not willing to give their all for the club.”

That sounds a lot like Mark Dominik’s bit from a few weeks ago about spending wisely and determining every player’s value.

“It’s never been stated like that, nor have I been under that impression my last six or seven months on the job, or the years prior as director of pro [personnel],” Dominik said. “It’s been, ‘Lets spend our money smart.’

“I’ve always lived in the mind-set that every player has a certain amount of value,” Dominik said. “You have to determine that and you have to stick to it or it means nothing.”

No condemnation here… yet. I supported them being smart with their money before and I still do. But I know it’s a pretty short step from “being smart” to “being cheap” and that’s where shit starts to go downhill fast. How they eventually treat guys like Barrett Ruud and Antonio Bryant will go a long way to determining if they’re serious about being smart or if they’re just hoarding their nuts, because nothing says “smart” like locking up your best players long-term.