We all know the model. Actively recruit affordable young talent with high potential in order to develop and resell for big transfer fees, cycle the investment until success is achieved. Some form of that anyhow. Personally I’m a big fan of this method and I’m convinced it will bear fruit in the medium to long term. It’s also considered a progressive way for clubs with smaller incomes (comparatively) to punch above their weight and therefore attractive to younger/newer managers and coaches who share this philosophy. There does appear to be some draw backs however, If you sell a player for £20m typically fans are used to seeing that being reinvested directly in the form of spent transfer fees and if this is not the case it is easy for less nuanced supporters to think something like, “if £20m isn’t spent on fees, someone is sucking money out”. I’ve been thinking about Crewe Alexander under Dario Gradi who essentially used a very early sort of proto form of this model to punch above their weight. Crewe under Gradi were a Championship mainstay for almost a decade in the 90’s and 2000’s despite getting tiny crowds, being an undesirable club to play for and constantly selling their best players almost every season. They made a living off of picking up any young players in their catchment area (north west + west midlands) who got released by bigger clubs and sifting through them to find anyone who could be coached. When these hidden gems began to shine they were shipped out at the first opportunity for any reasonable fees offered. This enabled Crewe to punch above their weight in wages, never really needing to spend fees on players due to the money invested in their coaching and scouting, they knew who was who as soon as retained lists were posted at the end of each season. Of course, I’m not suggesting we’re Crewe or that we should live off free agents, but there are often other ways to invest received transfers fees that are less obvious than simply spending on players, the question is, will the pressure to invest it all on incoming players rather than other areas of the club by some sections of the support, be too much for the club to handle?
Mike Ashley ignored a relegation and ten years of endless protests, questions in the House and a media onslaught ... .... fans like to stamp their feet, because it makes them feel like they have some power, but it's generally futile. Sunderland are a club that's been rescued from virtual oblivion, promoted and operates without massive debt, which is rare these days. These internet rumours of turmoil, punch ups and that KLD is a conman are like a bunch of fishwives. KLD was accused of not having a clue what KS was doing, behind his back, then accused of being in cahoots with KS to rake in money for him personally. And that was from the same poster on the same day If SAFC decide to 'flex the model', as people love to keep saying, it'll be because they see it as beneficial to the club. People getting hysterical just look like toddlers on a supermarket floor ... not a pretty sight.
The Model is only new to us as we have been used to the scattergun approach for many many years. Other clubs have been operating this way for a long time and some have got it pretty much nailed down as how they operate. Dortmund in Germany, Udinese in Italy, Ajax in Holland are all incredibly well known and praised for picking up unearthed young players, developing them and selling them on for profit. Brighton and Brentford in the UK have come to the fore as they gained more exposure from their recent success for employing the same kinds of methods. The Profit and Sustainabilty rules that are in place now will bite a lot of clubs hard in 2025/26 when they reach their full limits, a lot of clubs will be scrambling to meet the rules and no doubt already looking at how they can be bent to suit. We appear to be well ahead of the curve already. The only thing i cant find any jargon free, clearly written information on is the "squad value" part of the P&S, as that appears to be the "get out of jail free" card for the big clubs, but i am yet to see that part explained in plain English (always a sign to me that there are loopholes) As much as i don't want to see us sell players like Clarke, Neil, Ballard I know why we will have to and whatever money that generates some will be used to improve the squad, some will be used to increase budgets in whatever needs increasing. Football finance is broken beyond repair, TV money and the Big 6 have seen to that, I would be quite happy to see the European or World Super Leagie start and the lot of them bugger off and allow the rest of us to reset football. As i have mentioned before i am at a real crossroads in my supporting life as at times i get frustrated that we are not up in the play off places or challenging the top 2 for promotion to the premier league, then there are times where i dont want to be promoted and the struggle that generally brings. Too long didnt read - can football have a reset and not be dominated by TV money and Nations wealth
I vaguely remember being at Walsall for a match in L1. We were on a long unbeaten run but Max Power was sent off after 20 minutes and we were two nil down with less than thirty minutes to go. We pulled one back, can't remember who, and Gooch equalised in the last minute. There was over 3,000 down and the scenes were absolutely crazy, people on the pitch and rolling down the terraces ... ... we celebrated more than Man City when they last won the title. And that's what matters to me, support what's in front of you and enjoy it as much as you can. I was at Reading to see a goal that turned out to be pointless scored by someone who'll become an ex-player. But I was there with a great mate and boy did we celebrate ... ... I'll carry that memory to the grave.
It will all depend on how quickly KLD wants to get to the premier league. If he's happy enough to build slowly with the way we're doing at the minute, basically buying young lads and coaching then up then it'll take some time to get there. If he's seen how we've performed their season and decided to buy players to step straight into the team then it will cost the club (mainly him) more money
To be quite honestly if the club listened to those who shout the loudest we would have ceased existing as a club a long time ago. Yes we are a huge club , however we have no god given right to be in the Premier league because we get 40,000+ each home game and sell out every away game. I hope KLD can disconnect from some of the outside noise for the simple fact what a lot of fans are demanding he does is exactly the opposite of how he runs the club. If he gets it right we could be that big club again, the one some fans we have the god given right to be. It will take time, but take for instance Clarke who I think his fee could be up to 5 million depending on appearances etc. , if we can sell him for 25 million we could spend it on 2x 10 million player and 1x 5 million, in principle we would have a new Jack Clarke and 2 that realistically are even better, if that's the case in another 2-3 years if we sell those we should be looking at a return of 100-120 million for the original 5 million outlay. I know it's not as easy as that but in principle if it work the talent we bring in will keep improving, so that will only benefit the team
There's no doubt the club is totally day and night from where we were when 'Bert and Ernie' were in charge. I am all for the plan where we follow a sustainable future. My only thing with any plan is has to be open to adjustment and tweaks when needed. The reason for this because if everyone in the club follows the plan rigidly then to me sometimes a conflict of interest occurs. KS remit is clearly to bring young players and have the option to sell at a significant higher price later as in the case of Clarke, Neil, Ballard to name a few. So KS in reality is working for what should be a better financial future. The Head Coach position is working on short term to win games. The old saying a head coach/manager is only three losing games away from the sack so therefore KS has to get the balance right. I do believe in the case of Mogga this led to him leaving the club. I think after last season expectations were naturally high and I think going into this season with a good chance of losing Amad we needed someone similar to fill that goal scoring role. Hindsight is wonderful thing and the 'strikers' brought in, in terms of hitting the ground running just didn't happen. So maybe the 'model' should have been changed slightly. Mogga has been in the game long enough and maybe the cards he felt he was dealt he couldn't have made it work to get us where we needed to be this season. Like in any plan stability is a big part in it and I think we just didn't get this one right. However, life is a learning experience and KLD is certainly getting more right than wrong. Just need to get the next appointment right for Head Coach and we should be well on the way.....wish you every luck KS!!
That's all very interesting mate. It appears there's either a plentiful supply of Class A drugs in LA or a ban on paragraphs Seriously, if KLD was in it for the money he'd mortgage the club, use the money to get us to the PL and sell. I believe he's an earnest and serious man who believes in the club and wants us to succeed without just flinging money around ... ... only apathy and antagonism, from the supporters, will dissuade him.
no model here selling too many good players, need experience as well they better replace Clarke and get players in in the summer or are we going back to league 1 never mind promotion.
As it feels like we say every window, this window coming up is truly the biggest test. We will be recouping a good chunk of money and how it’s used will be interesting. I appreciate and like the strategy of buying players with room to develop, I just think we need to find players higher up that development curve. So players who are ready to start now but with huge upside. Like the Ballard and Clarke signings rather than the more recent ones who’ve been younger
Surely that's how 'the model' logically develops. We're still in the implementation stage of all of this and it probably won't start to produce real benefits for another couple of seasons, at least. I'm sure the club will know this.
Will fans accept investing a % of the incoming tfr fees on non first team investment. My two penneth. I think football funds should be ringfenced. So a tfr fee should be spent on the playing side. That can include academy sides through to first team. I dont think it should be used on stadium repairs for example, I think that should come from a long term investment plan, arguably with owners money, alongside surpluses made. What I dont want to see is selling Clarke and Neil for £20m plus and us keep shopping in the £2m bracket because the roof needs doing (as an example) for £3m.
Totally agree mate that KLD has our best interests at heart. He seems to be in for the haul which is best for our club. It's difficult running an organization our size but he should be pleased with the job he's done so far. English wasn't me greatest point at school....so f*ck paragraphs....lol. If I need any other funny stuff the guy up the road from our neck of the woods.....he might have them.....lol.
Either KLD wants promotion to the PL, with huge success/profit, or he's happy to trudge along in the Championship getting nowhere. I think it's Option A, what does everyone else think?
