I think we’d have had him at least another season Fran. He was very tied in to Cortese and ‘the project’. We’d probably have lost him eventually, but to one of the mega-clubs.
Well that is the FAs job, not really individual clubs. I am sure that all pro clubs have some community thing in their local area where they put some money into grass roots. The only sport I know a fair bit about with a salary cap is in the NFL. There (as far as I am aware) all the money generated by the 32 teams in it goes to the NFL (ticket sales, merchandising, advertising etc) and then the money is distributed out to the clubs afterwards. Every NFL team makes money overall and the owners make money. This, I think, is the same in the MLS where the league "buys" a player they think will benefit the MLS as a whole. Then the teams have a waiver list where, as long as the players wages fit in their salary cap, they can claim that player for their team. If you are top of the list you have first refusal, but if you take the player you drop to the bottom of the list. You could have the same system here where everything goes into a "PL pot" and the money is then distributed out afterwards, but obviously your Man Utds aren't going to be too happy only getting a % of what they make and essentially giving money to other teams. It also would completely get rid of transfer fees. Some money from this pot could be used to boost grass roots, though I don't think that is a funding issue as much as a generation issue. PS I'm sure one of our North American friends on here will tell me I am completely wrong about how the system works over there in the MLS/NFL
There is nothing worse than your club finding a player and you invest millions in him and he turns out to be brilliant in his first season, He is settled and enjoying his life and everything is hunky dory.......Then along come the big clubs releasing statements in the national newspapers that they are interested in the player and after just one season this settled player has had his head turned. There has not been any offers for him only sound bites from these big clubs but it has unsettled the player.......You always see the manager saying his player is going nowhere but that again is empty words....... Now my point is these big clubs was not interested in a player before but after investing millions on the player and he does well the bigger clubs hover like gannets wanting your player that you have found and you have spent a lot of money on and the club has got better. Yes the player will have ambitions to play for a bigger club one day but he was happy to sign lets say a 4 year contract and all the benefits that come with it so to have that in turmoil after one season is not good. Your club may be offered a huge profit for him but you would be losing a player that has improved the club and we all know how fans react to that.. So what i say is that the big clubs should not try and unsettle any player after just one season as that is not fair as it is bullying and should be dealt with as such, The player who was happy to sign a good contract should at least compleat half that contract before any thought of allowing the big clubs to make a play for him and if they think he is as good as they think he is then they will come back for him. What this does is it will give the club who invested a lot of money in him a minimum of two seasons to reap any rewards and still make a profit on him if they want to sell after two seasons.....The club can then decide whether they want to sell him or not.....I hate a player that has improved the team being poached after just one season....
I dont agree with that. Cortese leaving and moreover the reasons behind that decision (no ambition from owners, no assurance the best players would be retained, no commitment to push on and commit financially from the owners etc) not only led to Cortese then Poch leaving but that specific moment was very much the spark that lit the gunpowder re. Saints demise and the resultant loss of identity and direction. Our present situation / bleak outlook is the result a few years later
Which is why Saints fans reserve a special dislike for Dejan Lovren and V Van Dijk. We got 1.5 seasons out of the latter, but he was happy enough to sign a 6 year deal with us. Then Liverpool began sniffing around... Oxlade Chamberlain got clapped off the pitch at St Marys when he turned out in a Liverpool shirt. Mane nor Clyne ever get any grief. But Lovren and Van Dijk are disgraceful individuals imo.
See i'm pretty sure he would have stayed for at least one more season. Then who knows we could have been en route to achieving what Leicester did. We would have been better placed for it than what they were.
I'm afraid basic economic theory would kick in. If you put a price cap lower than the market will bear, a black market will always develop. If you think football's corrupt now, wait until Man City are paying companies in Dubai "youth football development funds" that go via corporations in five offshore banking centres to end up in the pocket of Sergio Aguero Enterprises, a bearer share company in Delaware. Alternatively, someone in Spain will realise that he can get all the world's best players by offering them £60K a week and the madness will continue elsewhere. Vin
Wages in the PL also aren't nearly the problem they once were, because the growth in player wages hasn't kept pace with the growth in revenues. That ratio in the PL is still high compared to North American sports with caps, but not exorbitantly so (the NFL is a bit of an anomaly because the NFL has the most player-unfriendly model in sports). Now, the Football League is another matter...
Blow for West Ham losing Reid for the season. They'll be seeing a lot more of Collins and Ogbonna than I'm sure most West Ham fans would like. Their forward line is arguably the best in the bottom half. But their central midfield and backline...
At the same time something has to be done about the big clubs forcing the price of players going for well over the top prices and they expect over the top wages. Fifa needs to get a grip of the situation because Greed is killing clubs today and how long will it take before teams eventually go out of business......10 - 15 years maybe and probably less for a lot of clubs.......Nobody is worth a weekly wage of over 100K+...That is obscene and greedy in the highest order and the fans won't be ripped off at the turnstiles.....IMO No fan should pay more than £15 - £20 to watch a game of football but because of greed by the players the fans have to pay over the top prices.......A Huge shake up is needed world wide to bring football back to reality or eventually Greed will kill the game for the fans..
It’s not just greed in monetary terms, it’s greed in sucking up all the best talent and then sending them out on loans. I believe Chelsea, last season, had 35 players out on loan. Actually 38 based on this Guardian report. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/01/chelsea-38-players-loan-who-where 18 players on loan this season, apparently http://chelseafconline.com/chelsea-players-on-loan/ For me, this practice should be stopped or the loaning team should be held responsible for paying all the wages, rather than reducing their wage bill by doing this.
Ironically, that exists because of the Financial Fair Play rules. Because profit on player sales (which is much more complex than price received minus price paid) allows you to extend your wage bill upward, Chelsea has every incentive to stockpile young talent and then sell them on, because it allows them to afford wages they otherwise could not. It's a wholly rational decision under this system, and unless it is changed, I cannot blame Chelsea for following that model.
Agree we cant blame these super rich clubs for taking advantage of the situation as probably the Saints and the Swans would do the same if we had an endless money tree...But that dont make it right......Football should be for everyone and should be fair right across the board but it is not fair it is one sided in favour of the big clubs.......It is spreading on to the pitch as well now.. How many of you noticed these past few seasons that most Refs decisions nearly always favour the big sides and that is commonplace today.....I am sick of the way football is going and the people who can change things turn a blind eye because they want to stay on the gravy train of greed and corruption....
“How many of you noticed these past few seasons that most Refs decisions nearly always favour the big sides and that is commonplace today. Probably been longer than the past few seasons, truth be told.
Based on the recent analysis it seems a swans win is better for us than a draw. Likely only two wins to safety for them. Normally I would have said a split of the points is the best but it seems a good game to cheer on the swans. Chelsea better do the job though and not gift more points.
One goal scored in our last four league games. And that was thanks to huge stroke of luck. In fact, other than against WBA, it's the only goal we've scored full stop since the January transfer window closed. We really solved our attacking problems, thanks Les. Still, at the time of writing, Newcastle were the only side in the relegation battle to win. Silver lining and all that.
