Is not quite strong enough to describe my feelings toward the January transfer window. A CB loan signing and Huth out on loan to a rival club in relegation trouble...absolute madness And that's it. Before Ricc has a go, just to correct him, our turnover last year was NOT £68 Million, it was £98.3 Million, a slight difference, but don't let the truth shine through Red and White coloured glasses. Denise & Co, want the club to be self-sufficient, well it made a pre-tax profit of £3.8 Million last year (all figures from Deloitte). And apart from the increase in TV money. that's about the limit. Unless..you expand the ground capacity, you are not going to grow very much on a sell out crowd of 27,500, unless you charge ridiculous ticket prices, which of course would be counter productive. You can of course raise additional revenue by finishing higher in the league, but to do that, you have to INVEST in the team. Extending the contracts of Crouch (who I do think is a major asset) and Whelan (whom I do not) is not going to do the trick. SJW is having a great season...always been a fan of his endeavour, now he is adding goals to his CV. But the guy is 31 and as Smithers said, his energy levels (a huge part of his game) cannot maintain at the current expenditure...i.e., he is getting on a bit. Moses, who I hope we do sign on a permanent deal is what 23 ?? is the right age. Odemwingie if he does recover his fitness and pace is the wrong side of 30, with Bojan out for the season....and fingers crossed for a 100% recovery, leaves us extremely short of options. Bardsley, Sidwell are journeymen pro's at best nigh on or over 30. Ah well...what do I know (don't all rush ) PS...Smithers, I would have posted this on the January Window thread, but it is locked !!
Hello Nick, Is something getting your goat mate? come on, it's not like you to be shy, spit it out man and stop sitting on the fence!! Ps.how do you like my new avatar so far, freshly painted in Stokey corner a north facing wall in deepest Gloucestershire. (If they had bought a new striker I was going to fill the stripes in).
Hi JM, good to hear from you. Excellent avatar...you could be waiting a long time to fill the stripes in though By the way, have you noticed that I am getting younger and younger as the weeks go on??? My next avatar is going to be quite rude Yup the thing that gets me is the Coates's mantra of self-suggiciency...HOW Hope all goes well my friend Nick
I completely agree that self sufficiency is going to be a problem without a larger capacity, higher ticket prices or finishing further up the table. surely your next avatar will be a gleam in your fathers eye?
I here Harry (bulldog chewin a wasp) Rednap has left QPR in the lurch, something to do about having knee surgery from his account but straight after the window closes so smells a bit Billingsgate to me.
Lennon chose not to come to us " because I would not get into Stoke's team " reports the Sentinel. What a load of $%%**&>< , who would keep him out , Arnie ? , I don't think so. The Sentinel and Coates' have a mutual interest in stringing us along. Self sufficiency ? How is that to be achieved ? The academy is not the answer , not for the forseeable future anyhow. I try to stay positive but the owners make it difficult for me. The one bright note is that the style of football has improved since TP left.
As all I am disappointed to say the least, but I also understand that it is difficult to add value to our squad without now writing a ratty big cheque! I agree with Nicky and he echos my thoughts - I have always had an issue with a squad that is ageing! We missed an opportunity (IMO) to fill in a corner or two a year or so ago, but let's remember, we had a falling gate, a season ticket turnover of 38% and a flirt with relegation.
P.S I didn't realise the Transfer thread was locked - I just thought you were all ignorant bastards. I've now unlocked it.
I actually said our first team wages was I actually said 65 million wages and we got 68 million in TV REVENUE (I thought you did a course in English), this is of course not the full turnover (but Id love to know where you got £98 million from. This 65 million is without reserve wages, running costs, ground staff, taxes, etc etc etc, also I wouldnt bother expanding the ground because we only just sell out now, Hughes has done a fantastic job and there was no need to panic buy players as we will be fine. The signing od Wollshied is a stroke of genius as we have the option for a permanent deal and he looks the bollocks, I do agree with you on one thing though I wouldnt have loaned Huth out. Ive never seen you write one positive thing about Stoke and I wont hold my breath for any change in the future. Build the Hughes statue and everyone bow to his genius. Bojan, Munniesa and Wollscied for next to nothing, like I said GENIUS. You dont have to spend a fortune to get good players Kenwyn Jones and Torres tell us this. Bye
With the players now at our disposal , I am assuming we cannot recall Huth , I think we will stay up but not improve on last season's ninth place. If we are a club with ambition we should be looking to become fairly regular at gaining a place in the second tier of European football. I don't think our current squad has enough quality in depth for us to safely compete in that competition and keep our position in the Premier League. It means that we have got to be better than Liverpool , West Ham and Swansea , and I don't think we are. But with another three or four players of quality we could be. Of course if we are a club without ambition . . . . .
Ricc - get a life and read what I wrote regarding the £98 miilion T/O - quoted by Deloiitte and your bible the Sentinel. As per the terminally blind/red and white striped tinted/totally impervious to any sense of reality or a world outside of Stoke City, you are incapable of forming any sensible opinion. Do NOT attempt to imply that my academic acheivements are in any way associated with my opinions on here. Oh what the hell, there is no point talking/discoursing with mindless cretins. Just f..k off sonny jim.
there is a difference between TV revenue and turnover, you may be good at grammar but my God as regards common sense youre a right thicky, you moaned when Pulis was here, you moaned when Hughes was here, he broke all records last season and is on track to beat last years miracle, he has bought players to this club I could only have dreamed of. At the end of the day youre just a very negative bitter person, gladly im the complete opposite. Toodle pip