Everyone knows Huw turns his phone off..alot !! .... Totally agree mate and it was the first thing i said, i was told this by somebody different than the usual HP source. I think its the type of thing that gets put about and then takes its own life to become something different. The only problem with this one is that it aint beyond the realms of possibility with the swans !! Big problem down there for me is the why stuff is kept secret when it doesnt need to be, i think its common knowledge that Ash seems to be on his way but we get the same "there has been no official approach " line all the time, as one poster mentioned before, we are use to this sort of thing now so its no big deal to us anymore,in fact i think a bit of honesty about some things will only re-enforce the beleif in the board and club. Thats how alot of the bullshit rumours start! Of couse the flip side of things is that there may be nothing to actually say!! Brenden Rodgers was a Swans manager with "no offical approach" but he had talked terms and signed his contract with Liverpool when that was getting spouted out to us by the chairman.. People will start to get a bit pissed off when being taken for fools all the time,we are at the point now where nobody actually beleive anything that comes out from the club,so their secrecy is now counter productive! Im positive though that this season will be a hard one but everything will work out ok, i am sure that Huw Jenkins and the board do their best for the Swans and that is something that many other fans of other teams cannot say. I like many others just thought it would be a great off season with zero hassel and stress,never mind ,it wouldnt be the Swans without it i guess !...
Every season I have supported the swans (15 years) the summer has been nothing but doom and gloom. I for one am looking forward to the new season.
I agree with your sentiments 100% mate but i also think there is more than 1 way to skin a cat! for example we could pay a player a bigger signing on bonus to cover that type of wage and not break the wage structure. Like in life there are always special cases, if one top player was prepared to sign for us on 50k a week then you could argue that he would offer more then two average players on 25k a week. Even at Man utd it they had to break the wage structure to go with the times, they didnt do it for everyone but they did it for the top quality, what people seem to forget is that we are getting an extra £20m quid next season too and if Laudrup feels he can get Negredo to sign it would be worth the extra outlay on wages knowing we have top quality on the field. We could sign 4 cheaper options and they could all be ****,the outlay on them over the same amount of time would be greater than a top level player as its likely these type of players would struggle to find a top club. If the Swans went down the likes of Michu,Ash,Chico,Ki would be gone in a heart beat so the drain on resources would not really happen,in fact we would make money with some of them,it all comes down to perseption, we are little old swansea we are a small club etc,etc if we always think like that the prem league will spit us out soon enough,we are here on merit we get the money from sky to compete so lets use it, it doesnt mean we need to sign a new squad like QPR it just means we need a top level striker to ensure our prem exsistance. speculate to accumilate ??
I agree NJ dunno if it can be done but there should be a relegation clause on contracts. Eg. 50k Prem if relegated drops down to 30k in championship, that would reduce the risk.
I just feel that the next level of player will cost us and we either accept relegation dogfights or quietly try and expand the club and brand to take us forward,at the end of the day no player wants to be at a club that is standing still or heaven forbid going backwards, another productive season may keep the likes of Michu,chico,Ki,davies,vorm on board for a bit longer! The wage structure is fine but im not sure there is too much wrong with signing ONE player above it, if he is a top player who can get us 20 goals he has earnt the others 100k in bonus pot paments hasnt he ? the way our bonus system works would mean that a top player makes all the players serious money, so far from being a potential gripe it may well have a positive affect too ?? I feel for the board in one respect as they are getting pushed out into deeper water with every season, but if we dont grasp this now we will miss out forever. All the global exposure we have gained and they havent acted on is a drop in the ocean compared to what they might **** up if they dont start grasping the nettle and thinking bigger
I think if we lose out on players to Stoke or Southampton then we need to worry but when we lose out to Liverpool Chelsea even Monaco - I don't worry because there's not a lot we can do about it - we don't havethe financial backing to take the risk - let's not forget where we finished in 82 and where we were 5 years later. thanks for the explanation NJ- I have extreme trouble believing that King Tut had our best interests in anything he did. ML does not have a stellar record around staying with clubs as a manager and I put it down to King Tut whispering in his ear " Go on Michael tell them to FKuck off, they won't listen to me ..... er us'
The agents intrests dovetailed with ours,the best for the Swans meant the best for Laudrup, it was reported in the press months ago that tutu was taking meetings on behalf of swansea and Laudrup RE player recruitment, so why did it come to a big bust up later on ? the club obviously knew what he was doing they just got cold feet when the figures were coming in! Its more a clash of personality with tut and Huw than wanting to move Laudrup on,as the press have correctly reported. they both wanted to stay and build on last season but Laudrup and his agent were pissed off with player recruitment and what the club were deeming as a good buy and a bad buy. Interfeirence from above is not what Laudrup was expecting, i dont know the exact details of this but it appears the transfer budgets were not as what was first expected as some of the money was earmarked for "club scout" signings and not just Laudrups signings, something that has proven to be a bit sticky,hence why Bartley isnt favoured . Laudrup probably beleives he should stand and fall by his own signings and not somebody elses, im sure there are many common intrests but a few things have made it a bit edgy recently. Im sure common ground can be found, but we must remember that the board stalled laudrup on the pablo signing because of wages and age and also had the Ki signing done before/just after Laudrup turned up so is plenty of room for a bit of mistrust with our duel scouting system.
I've been doing a fair bit of scouting myself these past few weeks I tell you!.................. Ps: Time you lot took a vacation!..............
At last some sensible football debate that hasn't degenerated into squabbling and infighting - see guys we can do it - excellent thread!
First season was about right what we paid for players as we were one of the favorites to go down and brendan did a great job and left us in a good position. season two we were very fortunate to find michu as other clubs looked at him and lost interest in him and that was the best buy of the decade let alone the season from any club. we survived the season even though we did not perform as expected and finished the season as one of the worst teams and again we were lucky that none of the bottom teams could put on a string of wins that could have forced us closer towards the relegation battle...Now we enter our third season we not only have the league to worry about we have europe,the defence of the league cup and the FA cup to get organized for....We do need to up the anti when it comes to players now and we should be able to compete for players we need in the £6-8 million bracket and pay them around the £30k mark. we could also offer a bonus if we manage to stay up ensuring a 4th season where we can or should be able to up the anti again for players in the £7-10 million bracket...success will pay for all this to happen as we stay in profit,,,,,Now im not saying that if we can get cheap players it is wrong because i am not but the longer we do it the bigger gamble we are taking and i think the club should listen to laudrup and let him bring in a few players of his prefered choice within a slightly higher price range than what the club wants to spend.....we all benefit and grow as a club in the end instead of gambling that we will get lucky again and everyone knows that luck will run out eventually so we must take control of our own destiny now we are still in the premiership...
Agree with a few points there Dai. To bring in better players than we have we have to spend decent money. Don't see the point in signing a sackful of 2-3million pound players as they really aren't going to improve the squad for the next challenge, and are very unlikely to find another 2 million pound Michu again. With the right quality brought in, we can have a decent run in Europe, another top 10 finish and maybe another good run in one of the cups.
thats right valley and my point exactly.....all i want is for the club to get realistic, we can still keep doing what we have been doing but now we have money of some substance then the more we get the more we can up the anti for the right type of players we need....Forget about the £10 million plus players but look at the ones above what we paid last season....
Absolutely agree Dai, hopefully get some decent news soon on signings. Really like the look of the Gomis guy and think he is one we should really be pushing for. Hope you had a good holiday by the way!
Hi Musty Yep, the long saga of the notes is finally concluded! Made over £300 from your kind donation and am chuffed to say that Francesca fund has now reached its target - she will be going to USA for the operation and funds will also cover the after care! Have posted a link to the Facebook page below so you can see the good that you, and others like you, have done. Sorry it dragged on so long and thanks from all at ATFV, and of course from Francesca and family, for your generosity - it is greatly appreciated. https://www.facebook.com/groups/327256660702999/?fref=ts
