All of a sudden, this has become quite entertaining. Not up there with The Oatcake, but still worth a giggle or two.
I don't think we are all discussing the same points. My understanding is that the thread relates to how the board are going to invest in the future of the club, starting with investment in the 1st team?
Quite right Smithers, until it was hijacked by Stoke's Greatest Fan. I was NOT moaning just stating an objective opinion...Ricc cannot or will not see the difference.
"I was NOT moaning", I nearly spat my tea out when I read this. You still dont understand the difference between TURNOVER and TV REVENUE, giving that we base our wages and most of our transfer money using TV REVENUE it is the most important point in the transfer window and limits what deals we can do. This is the reason we went to loan Lennon and we have loaned Woolshied with a view to a permanent deal at the end of his loan spell, there is room for wages increase but not for transfers until we sell some players (unless Stoke change their policy). This is what I wrote in the comment you referred to: £65 million wages and we got £68 million in TV REVENUE. You made a sly comment at me on your opening thread so if you cant take it dont give it.
You really are a very silly little boy. Just stay in your red and white striped bedroom, red and white striped jim-jams and your stoke city duvet. Oh and piss off
I am in earnest hoping for a good result today so that we can write/read positive things about our team and that we , all of us , can move on from what has become a rather sour thread.
good luck with that Kos, some people on here would still moan if we won the league, I wouldnt hold your breath on getting Nicky to participate lol
Ricc, I have NO problem with the football we are playing. I have NO problem with Hughes, he is doing a great job with a limited budget, Bojan being an example...and Moses. However I DO have a problem with the owners and their expectatations. They want the club to be self sufficient There are only two ways to do this: 1. Increase ground capacity 2. Invest in the team to enhance league position and or win a cup. You could also save money by closing down the Academy...a vanity project if ever there was. You could reduce the average age of the squad - get some resale value. The word is investment. This is NOT a moan - is it? Anyway Ricc PS...if we lose today...Hughes out
Its pointless expanding the stadium as we only just fill it now, this is it people this is our peak, we will have the odd cup run and maybe finish 8th but would I want to be in the Europa cup again?, not a chance! we all saw what the Europa does to your squad. There is no money to invest in the team until we sell a few players and I think we have a great squad. If people cant enjoy it now then I really dont know what to say. The owners of our club are doing a brilliant job and long may it continue.
This is a key point regardless of which side of the fence you sit on. To get resale value you have to be able to keep the age down and develop - so buy young (Shawx, Bojan etc) or create your own through an academy ( Southamton). Outside of this it's gamble - buy proven young talent with a big price tag - open to debate? I do think we could fill at least 1 corner.
the thing is though that even if we filled in one corner would create about 3000 more seats and even if we sold out it would mean 3000 x £400 = £1.2 million per season which is a drop in the ocean. Age doesnt really concern me and you can get quality players for dirt cheap. Ireland and Crouch spring to mind. If we want to buy good young players we would have to spend £10 milion per player like you said a lot of money. I just dont understand where people thnk we can go, we dont have a big enough fan base or income to compete with Liverpool, spurs, arsenal, man city, man u, chelsea etc so at best we are challenging for 7th/8th, we finish 7th and its Europa which will wreck our prem position as it did when we were in it before. People think we will just keep progressing, we finished 9th last year and now people think we must improve in that for it to be a sucessful season,I dont agree. I dont think we will finish higher than 9th this season and I would still class this season as a massive success. Some people are getting ridiculously carried away (not saying you are).
I don't think we can improve, but I do think age is an issue. The older the squad the bigger the bill will be to replace, and you can't rely forever on some of the wonder signings we have made. Live by the free transfer (or loan) die by the same method. We just need to be careful and think ahead!
Smithers. This is getting silly, the main point of this thread...and you DID allude to it; was. "The board want/insist that the club become self-sufficient...great idea...BUT HOW ?? Then the thread got hi-jacked. Anyway...let's just lock the thread shall we
