This isn't in defence of Clough
Ricky, but it was never an either or situation. At the time Liverpool was asking approximately £1.4 million for Coady, and I'm sure as much as Clough would have liked him to sign, at that price Clough just couldn't justify the outlay. So the benefit of hindsight comes into play, and we all know what roads that can lead us down. Signing Wallace must have seemed a more affordable option, and as Liverpool weren't budging in the evaluation of Coady Clough needed to bring players on board.
At the time I recall writing that I hope Clough plumps for quality over quantity. If we'd signed 6 or 7 quality players we'd have been in a good position to push on, but instead we went for a policy of signing jobsworths, with a few decent players thrown into that mix. One of Clough's last signings was Done, and he was one of that rare group who suggested that we might have a chance of moving forward. Trouble is we just never bought enough of the right type of player. There were struggling attempts to shore up our defence, McCarthy from Palace seemed the answer, but as it turned out McCarthy's finer moments were long behind him and eventually he left the club.
But back to Coady, a club prepared to gamble might have been prepared to take a chance at Liverpool's evaluation, but I recall that quite a few poster said 'no' at that price, and by then Clough had bought a midfield straight out of the Argos catalogue. We had triers instead of the one thing we (still) need. Players of obvious quality, those a cut above our existing squad, players who'll be equipped for what this division, and the division above, demands of us.
A few months later, Liverpool had dropped Coady's price to £400K, and Huddersfield nipped in and got themselves a good player.
