Yes a lot in that. We need to get better at the latter point, which hopefully is what Thelwell is looking to do.
I agree with being tougher negotiators too. Not only does it help fiscally, but it also helps weed out players in it for the cash over those genuinely interested. I dont think we are that unattractive, look at Palace, having had years of Hodgson, yet in one summer just rebuilt.
We have to be more stringent though. Under Moyes we were frugal. We hated it, but we dont have top 6 money. You regain a reputation in football (or in anything really) by saying no a lot more. We started doing it last summer and hopefully that can continue. If you have that approach, it filters into all negotiations, including salary and length of contract.
I also agree, we will do business later. I always think we will. Ultimately theres a food chain, and almost everybody is waiting for other offers. It happens. We do it almost every summer, and honestly it rarely costs us. The one season we didnt do that-17/18 we had our worst recruitment on record. So buying early doesnt always mean buying well.
I'm happy we are playing hardball. The club offered 4m with add ons for KLP, which was probably a bit low, you might say insultingly low, but maybe that's the mentality we need now. To find 10 lads of equivalent profile, throw in 10 ridiculous bids, and 1 will get accepted? It may be, that for us, 15m rising to 20m is just too much. Theres some projection from me on what I want it to be, but that would be my hope.