I struggle to see the angst in our previous recruiting decisions and inability to get some of these over the line. Yes, it is disappointing as to the lack of KPP's, but I hardly see that as the clubs fault.
At some point, any recruitment decision has to balance:
i. Commercial terms - obviously the balance between what the player is worth and what we want to pay. I certainly wouldn't want to be the Bulldogs with Tom Boyd being paid $1m a year or Syderny with $10m for Buddy over 10 years.
Further to this, the natural extension is that you need to pay "overs" to get someone to move. This relies on predicting whether that player will provide a return on investment, never an easy task.
ii. Whether the player actually wants to come. E.g. Cloke never wanted to come to Freo despite being courted.
iii. Whether a trade can be done with the original club - which may (or may not) eventuate with McCarthy.
What I am saying is that it is easy to sit back and say "Bond didn't get it done, he is useless". I think from what I have seen, Freo take a balanced perspective to not sell the farm for a player that may or may not be the messiah.