Transfer Rumours The January '16 transfer rumour thread.

Are you trying to tell me that Cuco is on the same wages as Gaston? Not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely asking as I'm confused by what you mean.

As for the 2nd part, we know that how ?

 

A Cuco Martina sounds like it would be great with ice and a twist of lemon.

 

No, but the money remaining on Gaston's contract is a shade less than what we'll have paid for Cuco, transfer fee, bonuses and wages included.

Because clubs that are operating under the same threshold as us still have higher wages. If we were close to the cap, that would not be possible. We aren't.

 

Yeah but I'm not looking at what's left on Gastons contract. I'm looking at it as he is our highest earner, and if you're taking the wage bill as a whole, there's no point looking at what everyone's got left. The fact is come June/July there will be 50/60k knocked off the wage bill that we're not liable to pay anymore. I'm simply saying with that money we could either A) Make a big signing of a player on a similar sort of wage, or B) Use it to offer new contracts to current players giving them pay increase to try and hold on to them for a bit longer - eg. Vic & Mane.

"Because clubs that are operating under the same threshold as us still have higher wages. If we were close to the cap, that would not be possible. We aren't."

Which clubs are we talking about, and what threshold, isn't it all relative to what you earn? So different clubs have different limits on what their wage bill can be?

 

I really don't give this theory much credit. Man U don't have to poach anyone of us to be assured of constantly finishing above us in the table. They can buy Gareth Bale if they want to, or countless strikers way better than Pelle! Even if this theory is true, Saints are like one of those lizards that grow their tail back when it gets cut off, so is really a fruitless exercise.

 

Yeah I really don't think teams are trying to stop us, if they want Mane, it's because he's a very good footballer, not because they're on some vendetta to stop Saints improving. I don't think clubs like United give us even a 2nd thought unless we have someone they want.

 

I fully believe in the unsettling. Maybe not direct from teams like Utd, but media based people certainly have other agenda's.

 

Are a number of stories of Mahrez being in Man U's trigger hairs. And Vardy to Madrid too. We don't focus on those stories as much. I completely gloss over them infact. Also, maybe because the press know our business model well now - we do sell big to buy cheaper. So a lot of their crap actually will come true.

 

At what point will we become completely offended if the top clubs don't want to buy our players

 

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/41049/

Ugly Inside not giving much credence to a reported interest in Luuk de Jong.

 

That's different, though. Media do it because it's a popular story - they get a big hit rate (ie. correct guessing), as we inevitably do sell a few of our best players in the close season; it involves megabucks; it always involves a top four team; and Saints fans - as well as quite a few neutrals and non-top four supporting fans - take offence to it as representative of the big four's bullying and asset-stripping.

 

........and there's me thinking they were all Spurs fans.........

 

As of last season, it was all but five clubs. That was the full (tea lady and all) wage bill; there aren't exact figures known for playing staff.

And yes, it varies for a whole host of reasons. However, it's entirely possible to find a club that serves as a fairly close approximation of our standing, and see how they are faring. West Brom, as an example, would have started under the same 52m + offsets cap as we did. Their commercial income last year, which is one of the offsets, was about the same as ours. Their matchday income, another offset, was substantially lower. So too was their overall share of the TV revenues, thanks to our merit payments and facility fees (ie., we were shown on TV more than West Brom; can't possibly guess why).

Yet their wage bill was a couple million higher than ours, and there's no indication that they are in any peril from FFP; they spent the summer taking on a number of players on substantial wages, with the outgoing unlikely to offset. If they aren't being crushed by FFP, neither are we.


Obligatory "none of this changes the fact that FFP is a terribly obtuse, poorly explained and understood and unfair system that should be punted into the North Sea at the earliest opportunity" addendum.

 

Fair enough, good post and well researched

Edit: One thing quick, who's the 5? I can think of around 7/8 who will bring in considerably more commercial income and have a much higher wage bill than us due to this.

 

The five from 2013/14 (not all clubs have released their 2014/15 preliminary financial results) were Stoke, Cardiff, Norwich, Palace and Hull. We were at the bottom end of a pack of nine clubs whose wage bills were from 61-70m in that season; quite likely that we've jumped a couple places, as one of the higher earners (Fulham) have long since been shown the door, and the newly-promoted sides aren't big spenders. Still likely we're comfortably in the lower half, however.

Regarding commercial income, we were absolutely one of the lowest in the PL in that year, and remain such, though that will likely change after this season as our primary sponsorship deals come up for renewal. Our matchday income however is pretty good...in 2013/14 it was about on par with WHU, Everton and Sunderland in a mid-tier grouping below the big clubs and Newcastle, while dwarfing many other established clubs (WBA was the worst; thanks to the promotion of a couple sides with tiny stadia, however, they won't be now). Apparently, the only people who dislike a rainy Tuesday affair in Stoke more than players are supporters.


Related: I have no idea what the provisions are for the FA's version of FFP with the gargantuan new TV deals kicking in. If there's minimal change, we're likely to see one of two things: mid-tier teams turning comically large profits while being hamstrung by the restrictions (because a 40m jump in revenues without a concurrent ability to spend will genuinely affect Saints and others), or a bunch of teams making a mockery of the restrictions through the sort of creative accounting and sponsorship deals already employed by the likes of Man City. If instead the floating cap is adjusted to account for that growing pot of TV money, we'll never so much as need to consider FFP for years.

 

Sorry Schad I misread you, I thought you meant only 5 above us and I couldn't believe that, makes much more sense now

 

I think you underestimate our ability to be a pain in the guts to most sides looking for European qualification. We get the players from Europe, who are untried and untested in the PL and they confirm the faith we place in them. It's a ridiculously easy option for a club in the same league to attempt to push Saints out of the way and further their own strength. I'm not saying they do it maliciously [well, maybe Spurs], but they do it. I know I'd do it. If it wasn't Saints it would be another club, but nobody else is showing such a sustained ambition and rise. Do you think they're all gentlemen buyers out there.? Of course not. They'll do anything to put the weakest potential rival down, and at the moment that's us. Next season it'll possibly be Leicester City. They have loads of ambition too. They'll need knocking back.

As for attempting to purchase Gareth Bale or significant others, I think you answered your own question. Yes, why don't they.? As for fruitless exercise, if they can keep us having to rebuild each season that'll be enough breathing space for them. Besides, if we do well they can just cherry pick us again.

 

Just cannot see the top 4 clubs being scared of us...surely they would hope we take points off their real rivals. We are almost like a testing zone for players....we take a calculated risk on a player which brings the said player to the attention of others. The main difference now (compared to the past) is players only leave for top 4-6 clubs...no reason for them to move to West Ham, Newcastle etc as they would have done in the past.

 

The only agenda the media has is to push copy and sell advertising. Hence lots of un researched stories about this or that player being in the sights of this or that big club. It's just done to sell tomorrow's chip wrappers.

 

Les Reed has pointed that out on a number of occasions now. During the Fan's Forum he referred to it again in passing. He said that certain teams use the media to unsettle players. We know that Spurs do it routinely [and not just to us] and Liverpool have done it in the past to Saints, as well as the old fashioned 'tapping up' [Gerard]. ManU haven't in the past, nor any of the others, save perhaps Arsenal.

That's not to say that any of the rivals who haven't used these tactics before won't use them in the future. I would hate to think there will come a day when Saints start behaving like it. According to Les we go through the proper channels. Any media speculation is invented by them entirely.