Zarate on his bike?

There seems to be some confusion about who signs our players. Looks like Mauro Zarate is on his way to QPR in a loan deal and claims David Sullivan brought him to the club. Zarate told the Daily Mirror: “I now have the chance to play for a coach who has faith in me and will not allow his personal feelings to get in the way of what is good for the team. I respect the other strikers at the club who have done a good job. But I believe my record entitles me to respect and I have not had that from the manager. The chairman has confidence in me. I know this because he brought me to the club. But for this reason the manager has refused to play me. He did not want me."

Meanwhile the Sunday Times reported that David Sullivan had signed Diafra Sakho and not Sam Allardyce, after Sakho was first recommended by Karren Brady's brother. Sullivan is quoted as saying: "It was the last day of the transfer window and Sam didn't have a transfer target, and as much as he didn't want Sakho, I said let's take him."  Not sure how happy Big Sam will be about this and you can see why Sullivan normally leaves the PR duties to David Gold. 

Personally I don't care who targets our signings as long as we get good ones, though the manager should surely have the final say. Many people have an eye for a player, maybe even chairmen, and scout Graham Carr makes a good job of signing French players at Newcastle. 

Though the Zarate and Sakho cases rather contradict each other. If Big Sam won't play the chairman's alleged signings then he'd have to freeze out Sakho too, yet he's played him in nearly every match. Zarate looks a decent player and has scored twice in eight games, though he comes across as a something of a prima donna. It would be hard to argue that Sakho and Valencia should have been dropped on their early season form (though Enner's form is dipping now), while Andy Carroll has returned looking fully fit and Carlton Cole has scored twice when called on. Zarate was always going to struggle for games, particularly when he's playing a similar role to the in-form Stewart Downing, though ironically he might have played while Sakho is in Africa. If he's not happy then surely it's best he goes and we free up the wages for another squad player.