It is alleged we aspire to being an established top ten club. Accepting the first six positions are well beyond our capabilities/resources, to achieve or at least have some realistic expectation of achieving our aspired level, we will have to become an established member of a group likely comprised in most if not all seasons, of Everton, Southampton, Stoke, Leicester and possibly West Ham.
Whenever we are reportedly, seriously interested in signing a first team player - rather than a squad player - I ask myself would these other clubs likely be interested in signing the player for their first team.
Regarding Sneiderlin the answer was an unequivocal yes and although I doubted the likelihood of us ultimately getting him I did think that at least it showed the powers to be realised the quality of player we needed to get us to the aspired level.
But having failed to get Sneiderlin with a £18m+ bid, who do we come up with as the alternative; someone at least close to if not equal to the quality of Sneiderlin? Unfortunately not but Livermore at an inflated £10m which is likely to be even more in this transfer window if we are to get him. In my opinion Livermore is no more than another journeyman midfielder who arguably might be a little better than what we already have but is no where near the quality we need if we are to get to that higher level.
As others have said, this smacks very much of a Pulis driven signing, signifying that he is still very much in control of our transfer policy with all the risk-adverse limitations, that entails.
In today's market £10m may not be viewed as a great deal but £10m spent on Livermore is £10m less available to help fund the purchase of the quality of player who really would make a difference.
There is not much risk of us being relegated this season - for which Pulis's approach, whether one likes it or not, is a significant factor - so I do not think there is an urgent need to spend much in this window unless of course the quality of player we need does become available at a realistic price. As regards Livermore, if such a player is now deemed necessary we surely can find a loan signing at least his equal who would get us through to the summer when much better options are almost certainly to become available.