^It's not like I reflexively believe Ol 'Arry either.

The market for players isn't that inefficient. If QPR took over Defoe's contract, that would still be more than Lambert was valued at, ie it would still be overpaying. That's what I think happened - QPR offered to take his contract but no transfer. TFC would have done that deal, and taken the loss on the transfer (which is why Bez broadcast the Defoe auction notice on the Saturday), but the league, or the board, went apeshit when they found out.

Leiweke showed what he really thought at Ryerson - he would have dumped Defoe at a loss and moved on. But as jloome has been saying, that can't have worked upstairs. The insouciance about other people's money wears thin fast.