Quite possibly, but these expectations have been fuelled by none other than Cortese himself. Should we have disbelieved him?
I would have to agree with the majority view that our failure to secure a quality CB by now does seem really odd and I can only assume we have had a lot of bad luck. I think it was Pilchards who said that a player was given 5 days to consider his decision to join the club and a further 5 day tour of Southampton. If this is true, this gives the player a long time in which to change his mind!
I think it was better in the olden days when a Cloughie or McMenemy would lock a player in the office until he signed up! These days I suppose you would have to lock up the player's agent and advisors as well!
In any event, our tranfer policy will ultimately be judged by where we finish in the coming season.