We always seem to be a few years behind the curve - we start getting into a new area once everyone else has exploited it for years and it's already overpriced or on the wane, or we pull out to cut costs just as others are opening up new possibilities in the area.
The Irish gambit was originally done for cheapness over here while enhancing TH's philanthropic profile over there, even though most of the actual signings were crap. But then Brexit happened, and there was suddenly a useful reason for having a satellite club within the EU through which we could potentially ferry prospects in and out of PNE, bypassing the new Brexit rules - but of course, one of the first things the IoM did after TH's death was cancel the proposed takeover of Cork City.
Ireland aside, there seemed to be an aversion to dealing with foreign clubs under TH. Peter argued this was because we couldn't be sure how strong those leagues were compared to ours, despite the evidence of imported players performing well in other Championship teams. Nowadays, those "principles" have been ditched, and Peter's happy paying £1.7m for Okkels on the strength of a few videos.
Likewise, loan signings were minimal under TH, because we were paying to develop other clubs' players, when our model was (and still theoretically is) getting lower-league clubs to pay to develop our players on loan. Then Peter had his Damascene conversion when Pearson and Davies both left, and he was forced to sign so many loans in one window we had to immediately convert 2 to permanents so we could play them all. He still isn't a big fan though, because Prem clubs charge loan fees, plus penalties if the loans don't play, and frustratingly Peter still doesn't get to pick the team.
