The Adam Clayton saga - now officially signed for Middlesbrough

[carteater]

Well this was Bullshit

 

[Bladders]

Laugh or cry, laugh or cry....?

Laugh....,,,,then cry

 

[El Presidente]

Numerous people on here have claimed Paul Barber claimed we were ON TARGET to meet FFP targets regardless of the Ulloa money. So why are we still struggling to compete with clubs bringing in far less income?

Because Tony Bloom wants the club to be self financing in the long run, and therefore won't commit to spending more for players than he and the senior management team consider them to be worth.

 

[Bladders]

Because Tony Bloom wants the club to be self financing in the long run, and therefore won't commit to spending more for players than he and the senior management team consider them to be worth.

I'm more concerned with who's coming up with our player valuations.

 

[El Presidente]

A worryingly bleak view but perhaps accurate. We have no chance of Premier League money without getting promoted and no real prospect of promotion without parachute payments. Even Burnley, last season's surprise package, were on their last season of parachute payments and were able to replace Austin more than adequately and buy Barnes off us.

I don't necessarily MIND that we're in this Catch 22 so long as we drop the PLR Bollox until such time as the Academy starts giving us quality players for peanuts.

Yet Burnley were promoted last season with a wage bill 70% of ours, and Palace were promoted the previous season on a similar basis. Derby reached the play-off finals only three months ago without spending a fortune.

 

[Peterrhodes]

Please don't teach maths to anyone as your dice analogy is off the wall. You can not say that something which is possible is not expected unless the probability is extremely slim. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 have an equal chance therefore 6 is no different to any other number in terms of probability and the description unexpected would be marked as incorrect to describe the probability. The description would be 1:5 or 1/6 or equal.

 

[MattBackHome]

I'm more concerned with who's coming up with our player valuations.

Like Ulloa = £8-10m?

 

[Bladders]

Like Ulloa = £8-10m?

I meant the ones we try to buy.

 

[somerset]

A worryingly bleak view but perhaps accurate. We have no chance of Premier League money without getting promoted and no real prospect of promotion without parachute payments. Even Burnley, last season's surprise package, were on their last season of parachute payments and were able to replace Austin more than adequately and buy Barnes off us.

I don't necessarily MIND that we're in this Catch 22 so long as we drop the PLR Bollox until such time as the Academy starts giving us quality players for peanuts.

A dilemma indeed, but even more bleak is the thought that we may have missed our chance in Amex year two....threw the chance away for some reason.

 

[Man of Harveys]

A worryingly bleak view but perhaps accurate. We have no chance of Premier League money without getting promoted and no real prospect of promotion without parachute payments. Even Burnley, last season's surprise package, were on their last season of parachute payments and were able to replace Austin more than adequately and buy Barnes off us.

I don't necessarily MIND that we're in this Catch 22 so long as we drop the PLR Bollox until such time as the Academy starts giving us quality players for peanuts.

Assuming that it does, of course.

With these recent departures, the plan - such as it is - might seem (admittedly from afar) to hope somehow almost to sneak up at some point using cheap kids and the odd cheap signing that happily overperforms before being sold on. Interesting approach. Might take a while.

 

[El Presidente]

Assuming that it does, of course.

With these recent departures, the plan - such as it is - might seem (admittedly from afar) to hope somehow almost to sneak up at some point using cheap kids and the odd cheap signing that happily overperforms before being sold on. Interesting approach. Might take a while.

It might indeed, but the Pompey/Leeds overspending model isn't attractive either, we have been down that road before. The current approach won't stop either of us supporting the Albion though I suspect.

 

[Mackenzie]

Yet Burnley were promoted last season with a wage bill 70% of ours, and Palace were promoted the previous season on a similar basis. Derby reached the play-off finals only three months ago without spending a fortune.

Difference is they managed to keep their best players. Barnes, Ulloa, Upson and Bridcutt were arguably our four most important players.

 

[El Presidente]

A dilemma indeed, but even more bleak is the thought that we may have missed our chance in Amex year two....threw the chance away for some reason.

With 22 minutes to go in the match against Palace it was still even. Some players froze, Bridge went to sleep for a second, game over.

 

[Foolg]

Because Tony Bloom wants the club to be self financing in the long run, and therefore won't commit to spending more for players than he and the senior management team consider them to be worth.

Which is all fair enough.

But I think therefore this 'Premier League ready' quote needs to be re-thought, given even the likes of Burnley, Derby and Palace as you list above still had large losses despite having far lower wage bills than ourselves.

 

[El Presidente]

Difference is they managed to keep their best players. Barnes, Ulloa, Upson and Bridcutt were arguably our four most important players.

Yet Barnes, Bridcutt and Upson cost us a collective £125k.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

Difference is they managed to keep their best players. Barnes, Ulloa, Upson and Bridcutt were arguably our four most important players.

Think you are stretching even the most elastic of arguments to suggest that Barnes was one of our 4 most important players.

 

[El Presidente]

Which is all fair enough.

But I think therefore this 'Premier League ready' quote needs to be re-thought, given even the likes of Burnley, Derby and Palace as you list above still had large losses despite having far lower wage bills than ourselves.

Why not just ignore the quote? It's of zero importance to me, it's management speak, nothing to do with what happens on the park. As for ST sales, they're not as significant as you make them out to be. Last season ticket sales generated £8.7 million, parachute payments are £18 million. Or, to put it another way, we would need average crowds of 60,000 a match to be on an even keel with those clubs who are relegated.

 

[Mackenzie]

Yet Barnes, Bridcutt and Upson cost us a collective £125k.

Yeah good financial business when you consider what we sold them for....crap for the fans, but great for the books.

 

[Mackenzie]

Think you are stretching even the most elastic of arguments to suggest that Barnes was one of our 4 most important players.

He was the most important player when he was our only fit forward.

 

[El Presidente]

Yeah good financial business when you consider what we sold them for....crap for the fans, but great for the books.

Great for the players too. All four are in the PL this season. I would rather have seen them play regularly than the likes of Obika, Harley, Dobbie and Holroyd, who cost us about £1.3 million.