True but they signed him what, 4 years ago? So if we sign a League 2 player now for £150k he's not going to get the 4 years PL and Champ experience to make him worth that or put him in that quality bracket quick enough.
This is why your recruitment shouldn't soley focus on just the coming 12 months, something Dowling admitted he was doing last summer.
A number of the more "efficient" lower prem clubs have this summer continued with their policy of buying "ones for the future" in addition to players for the here and now. Leeds, Brighton, Burnley, Villa, Brentford and Wolves have all done this. They know that if one or two of these players develop into premier league standard players further down the line, it will save them £15m-£20m a piece in 2 or 3 years.
If you have less resources than your competitors, you have to be really smart in how you use them. All of the clubs listed above are outside the "big money 6", so they are looking at ways they can do business that closes the gap on the fact they have less money to spend. It feels this year like we have just done a budget version of what those with more resources do instead of showing signs of creative thinking.
Where is the longer term planning at the Albion? I'm just not seeing much at the moment. When you look at the rest of the division with their big money owners and creative recruitment teams, I just don't see where the space is for a club with no resources AND little to no advanced strategy.