Rafa quitting

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...ewcastles-transfer-business-compares-13247466

Think this article shows that the uproar for not having signed a squads worth of players already is a bit OTT.

Only 6 clubs have signed more than one player so far with a lot of teams still to do ANY business yet and only 7/8 clubs who have bought could have spent more than the £6m we spent on Atsu as a lot of the signings so far are free transfers.

And breathe...

 

When the first quality new face is signed it'll have a calming effect on those of us who don't believe that Ashley has indeed lost his crazy streak.

 

Exactly, not that ridiculous a thought is it? To be honest I don't get blindly jumping into the theory there's nothing to worry about, I've been worried from the minute promotion was confirmed.
Why? Don't trust Mike Ashley and frankly never will.
Sports Direct Arena, nuff said

 

But the problem is the bulk of them teams don't need that much to compete as they are premiership quality teams. We are about 5/6 players away from having a first 11 good enough.

 

It's all relative, though. Man U's minimum aim is CL football, yet with no Ibra and Rooney on his way out, question marks over Herrera, Smalling, Jones and more you could suggest they need to do an awful lot more than even we do. Arsenal have a very testing Summer. Those we are arguably competing with immediately - Swansea, Brighton, Hudds, West Ham, etc. - haven't done an awful lot yet. Plus there's the clear fact due to FFP regulations and our year in the Championship, any spending needs to be offset against the finances of the next fiscal year!

 

According to this article in the Ronnie Gill it doesn't.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...cial-fair-play-regulations-affecting-13245401

I get the feeling that Penfold under Ashley's instructions is delaying spending money to keep it in our Bank account and also to keep going for the bestest ever deal every time. Too busy watching the individual details and failing to see the whole picture.

 

Question marks over our player of the year... You mad bro?

 

Not about how good he is, he's a fantastic player, more about whether he'll be taken by Real or the like. That's all.

 

I'm not overly worried. What will be will be.

I always expect the worst with Ashley, that is to be expected given historical behaviour. I would not be at all surprised if we didn't start the season with Rafa or many new signings. Equally I wouldn't be surprised if we did start the season with and spent 80m. That is what you get with Ashley in charge - unpredictability. He is the Faustino Asprillia of club ownership. A complete maverick.

I've grown used to it hence I don't worry. For a long while now I just prepare to watch whatever is served up. I have witnessed so much ****e under his stewardship that I wouldn't lose any sleep over getting some more.

 

They couldn't afford him if they shared the bill (Barca & Real).

 

Exactly.

I think the older you get the less you worry. So you must be horizontal about all this

 

I honestly don't think he'd have any interest at all. He seems genuinely in love with the club. I know money talks and all the rest of it, but its not like he isn't rich. You also have to understand his background a bit. These Basque born lads are a little different, very different values etc. Whereas he wasn't brought up there, his family are all Basque, so he probably spent a lot of time there - he obviously did when he went back to Bilbao. It might seem hard for some to believe but they are not your typical footballer in terms of flying around in big flash cars and obsessing over how much money they can make.

 

Money only talks if they're moving to a richer club though, he ain't going RM or Farcelona.

 

Agreed there is a hell of a lot of work to do on the squad but the window only opens on Friday evening and then slams shut in 10 weeks time. If we sign a player every two weeks starting next week we will get the 5/6 signings you speak of. If by the end of July (usually when we start signing people) we haven't got anyone in I'll start worrying but as ACS say's in Rafa we trust.

 

The FFP is done on a 3 year rolling average so it wouldn't make that much difference. I don't think FFP is an issue at all for us.

 

Also, I could be wrong, but I think player trading isn't shown on the profit and loss statement. They are balance sheet items and depreciation/amortisation of those assets over subsequent years is how they appear on the P&L.

 

Are you a Man City employee?

"Nah, FIFA, we didn't really just spend £300m. Our net spend was -£10m when you really think about it. Look over there, a three headed monkey."

 

You are correct.

Footballers are assets of the club.

Where however it does show is in a cashflow statement. This is more important to the board members.

 

FFP just looks at profit and loss though as far as I understand it.

 

FFP doesn't look at what is spent; it looks at if a club is making too big a loss. I think Man City's owners just pump money in via sponsorship deals to balance the books.