i wonder how much of a red herring the project is. It does sound like a really convenient excuse. If the project was still here, we would still be fending off transfer requests and bids left right and centre. The difference would be NC playing the tyrant and telling all and sundry to feck off.
Imagine how motivated Rickie would have been next season, having watched NC file his dream move in the bin. I wonder just how long NC would have been able to continue selling the vision, before the inevitable cracks started to appear.