I doubt we'll be buying a £20m+ striker or attacking midfielder. Just can't see Ashley balancing that we've £100m+ coming in to fund it. To him, I'd suggest that the income is for back pocket use only. We'll see.
I see Peterborough United are latest victims of Steven Taylor masquerading as a footballer. Legs went at the age of about 27 so I'm not sure he'll even be able to cut it in League 1.
The problem is cash flow. Yes there is £100m+ coming in this season but it doesn't all hit at the start of the year so we only have what money is in the coffers, some from player sales if we can sell them, and hopefully some up front cash from the new sponsorship deal. Ashley isn't putting his own money in and frankly that's fair enough - the club is entirely capable of being self-sufficient. I don't think £20m+ would put either Rafa, Charnley or Ashley off but it would have to be for a really good player and need to be value for money. Rafa will also have to look at it from the perspective of the strength of the whole squad - would he prefer 2 x £10m plays or one £20m player.
Atsu - bang average in the Championship, my guess would be that he will struggle even more in the PL Lejeune - One good season in his whole career - hard to tell. Jacob Murphy - have high hopes for him - good signing Manquillo - a Spanish U21, had time at Liverpool and Sunderland so at least knows the PL. On a par with Yedlin atm but could be a good signing. Defence is stronger, wingers have improved as Murphy is 10x the player Gouff was last season, Atsu ****su. So, we desperately need to spend what ever is available on midfielders - 2 CM and 1 No. 10 (though would be happy De Jong and a pacey youngster) needed. The CM need to be 1st team players though and not squad. Shelvey and Hayden to me are top 4 Championship players and bottom 4 PL players together.
It will rest on whether Gayle can keep up his performances from last season against PL opposition. Could be he surprises us all, stays fit and leads the line all season - after all he'll have fewer matches to play this coming season. Rafa's been making astute signings so far to shore us up at the back and give us pace on the wings. Given the choice I'd say we'd be best spending the remainder of our kitty on a single goal-scoring AM of real quality. It's madness to go into the season with de Jong, Perez and Diame in that position who by turns will get muscled out of games and run rings around. Edit: snap
Have to say I'm pretty confident Gayle will score goals in the Premier League. He has before and I'd say he's probably a better player now than 2-3 years ago. The problem is he can't be expected to do it all on his own and there are questions as to whether he can stay fit. Ideally someone better would come in to be first choice and Gayle would come on for 15-20 minutes when we need a goal or he'd start games when we need to rest players. I can't agree more about the need for a 10#.
I am surprised at Rafa binning Krul, Saivet and Lazzaar telling them surplus to requirements. Krul has been a loyal servant and deserves better, not bothered about Lazaar but Saivet is a mystery. Reason I say this is because when he was in the team he played OK in the Colback role and looked a decent one in the making. I do not think he's been given a fair crack of the whip so can only assume they've fallen out with Rafa. If they'd been Spanish they'd have been ok ( Krull & Saivet ) Some of Rafa's dealings are head scratching moments.
I'm suggesting that our own money, not Ashley's, may be being blocked. Last season didn't we have a huge transfer profit, a big parachute payment and 50,000 paying punters every home game? We shouldn't need the TV money just now - though Huddersfield are probably borrowing to survive this season. We should be in a stronger financial position than our promotion buddies to go for it. The window isn't closed though.
The fact that Saivet was sent packing last season when we were in the Championship would lead one to draw an obvious conclusion about whether Rafa believes he is capable of hacking it in the Premier League. Had to have a little chuckle at the "Colback role" statement - as in passing sideways or to the opposition and letting anyone with the ball run past him. If Rafa has had another look and is again sending him packing then I think it's fair to say he's not going to pass muster.
And how much were our overheads? We were paying Premier League wages while earning Championship revenues and we probably made in my estimation very roughly a £30m loss last season - we will see how close I am to that number in 9 or 10 months when the annual accounts are published. I get a little sick of hearing this mis-informed crap to be honest after having explained it about a million times on here. We spent every penny we had last summer. You can say we made a £30m profit last year in transfers "so we have £30m in the bank", except the £30m we got for Sissoko was to paid in £6m instalments over 5 years so at least £24m of it wasn't in the bank at all. Winning the league brought in £7m - it's **** all to fund buying players for the Premier League. Cash flow can't be great; it's certainly nowhere near as good a side who just played in the Premier League last year and has their hands on the enormous TV money that we don't have. Last 2 years Ashley has certainly given up the hoarding of cash and allowed the coffers to be emptied. £80m we had in the bank at the start of the season before last was spent (and wasted) and everything we had last summer was given to Rafa. The outcome from the meeting between Ashley and Rafa this summer has resulted in the club stating everything that is available will be made available for transfers, and of that I have no doubt. A lot of people read that as we'll be be billy big bollocks in the marketplace but anyone with half a sense of what the reality is realised there would be cautious spending going on.
Agreed, hate the fat twat but it's a fact. This team cannot survive another relegation on the wage bill we're currently sat with so, being unable to shift anyone, we're looking at cheap transfers AND cheap wages for this season. By next season a lot of that dross will have gone and, if we've retained prem status, the funds will become available. Its sustainable business. The reason teams like Huddersfield.can seem to be spending a lot is their income is far exceeding their projected overheads and they had a team on championship wages in the first place, their expenditure won't hurt them in the way it will us if they go straight back down. Just gota get through this season and lower our expectations a bit. Shift any of krul, saivet, mitro, riviere (LOL) and we can spend a bit, until then we're restricted
If you get a bit sick of hearing misinformed crap on these boards I'd suggest you limit your time on here! It seems that many of us mere fans don't have the inside knowledge of accounts that you do. For what it's worth, I'm not calling for media touted spending. I just hope that way the window is playing out doesn't end up with Rafa walking. I think with luck with injuries, esp Gayle, that we've enough to remain in the top league.
Talk in the papers and internet today of progress with the move for Samaris and also a Brazillian called Allan. By reputation. as I can't recall ever seeing either one play, they would be decent buys leaving space for a "great" buy/loan of Batshuyai who got mentioned yesterday in the papers.
Allan would be an amazing buy mate, can't say I know much about Samaris. But that would make two midfielders and, like you say, go all put for a loan striker and I'd declare myself happy with start the season with that. Feel like he's given up on getting a GK unless Krul ****s off, which is okay because I rate Elliot (obvs) and even Darlow to show up for enough games.to see us through to Jan
I thin Alan Brazil might be a bit past his prime. Micky Quinn could give him a run for his money though ( Lol )
