Saint Nicolae!

As long as we keep signing Mane types and not Juanmi types we will be OK both financially and stay in the Premiership but it is a bit of a risky strategy from where I sit

 

I don't think we are excited about future profits, but I think we are all realising that (within reason) it is a good business strategy. Being financially sound (and remember where we started from....bust, facing League 1 if not total oblivion) will make it easier for us to keep more players. Would be more worrying if no one would touch one of our players with a barge pole...and our players only leave for bigger clubs not for midtable ones.

 

It could be argued that this policy will only make the big clubs more secure and cement us in the mid table bracket, while clubs we currently call midtable may take the risks to leapfrog us and start taking our players too. Crystal Palace may soon take this step.

 

The fact is, we only sell players to top clubs who offer many times the money we do. The only reason these clubs are interested is that the player has performed well for us. Would you rather we bought the next Mané or the next Gaston?
Loyalty is easy when nobody else wants you- I mean I have never even thought of leaving Mrs Fodder, but then in the absence of any millionaire supermodels showing interest in her flabby, follically-challenged, middle aged husband, she can be sure of my continued fidelity.

 

If you are a big club feeder you will never do more than irritate the status quo. The policy is no doubt a good one for a small club - but it pins us firmly in a bracket and gradually undermines itself as a posiition. The awful price we got for Mane is a case in point. We won't get terrific prices now as it I known we sell to bigger clubs and that we tell players they can go. Not a great bargaining chip.

 

Think this is just a case of long term plans having short term consequences. The policy of the club is clearly changing and adapting to our new situation. And long term means years ahead. No quick fixes

 

In truth there is a lot to be said that we Have to find a way of keeping our stars. All very well saying..."but we make a profit on them" this may be true but as a team we are unlikely to move forward as fast as we would like.
It would be nice to start doing what most other teams are doing and that is buying to improve our squad rather than to just replace.

 

No, Lyon.

EDIT - ah bugger, already done!

 

I'm more excited about what they can help us achieve. Don't know about anyone else.

 

You're presuming that the players that we let go for big prices will all have the same effect that Mane (after two games remember) is having, rather than....let's take Morgan for example. Or Lovren. Or Lallana.

You're also presuming that the players we bring in to replace those aren't ultimately better for them. Which recent history has shown to be untrue.

They won't. A player wouldn't want to go to Crystal Palace from us, in the way they would want to go to Liverpool or Man United. You're creating problems where there are none.

 

I think it would be an alternate universe before a player would leave us for Palace.

 

Neil Shipperley *ahem*

 

Pre-Leihberr....an alternate universe.

 

Have we given up on Nicolae then ?

 

I haven't. I'd love to sign him, but I'm not sure if he was anything other than a Boufal screen to the club...

 

I don't think we are talking about the same issue. Essentially buy cheap, sell big is a great model. However, if it becomes predictable then we lose our bargaining power. Over the last two years we have seen a pattern- we sign excellent players and then they leave. We have to show an ability to keep players (not old ones like Fonte) if we want to keep prices elevated. In the past we shafted Liverpool on deals, but they got Mane on the cheap by current English market prices because Liverpool now understand how we operate. Everyone now understands we will sell at decent prices - so if you want our players just hand over the money and you are golden. We want them to think we don't want to sell as this gives us leverage. No one in football now thinks we don't want to sell.

And if Palace keep spending aggressively and if they get results from it for a couple of years then they will eventually start taking our players too. I know that's a big if, but they are currently spending the big money available and that gives them a shot. There's no evidence they are going to struggle economically because of it.

 

I think we are going for a balance...there is no way we would sell the whole team. Saints want to be a successful, progressive football team first...financed by player development and sales as the second priority. There will be a point that we don't bite...Schneiderlin, Mane and Wanyama are all cases in point where we held out for another year because it didn't suit the club; Fonte is another. As we progress, these cases will become more frequent.

 

But you're missing a critical point here. Every player that has gone, has wanted to go, and to a greater or lesser extent, asked to go.

You only think Mane was a bad price because of what has happened afterwards. The majority of Liverpool fans thought they'd WAY overspent on him at the time (and most people here thought it was a reasonable deal). It only doesn't stack up when you see the likes of Boalsie going for a lot of money, but I think perspective is also a bit clouded because he's started so brilliantly. Half of last season he was poor for us. Let's wait and see. I think the £34m is "about right" - it's not like we've been ripped off, at this stage of his development any how.

I don't think we just see a figure and automatically say yes. If Palace came along and bid £30m for Hojbjerg, I think we'd turn them down, but even if we didn't (because we promised a player that we'd listen to bids if they gave us another season) PEH is not suddenly going to say "Oh, I've always dreamt of playing for Alan Pardew and Selhurst Park is my theatre" - no matter if they're in Europe (remember, we are too). The clubs we've sold our big players to have been Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham. All clubs that are waaaaaay bigger than us and can offer a lot more. We'll continue to sell at relatively inflated prices to them as it's otherwise a battle that's too hard to fight. I think you're getting clouded by the idea we sold Mane cheaply.

 

What big money have Palace spent? They have a net spend of about £11m, Benteke is a big buy for them but I'd be amazed if he wants to be there long term. Also, if you're worried about them getting long term results, just remember who their manager is.

 

I was angry we sold Mane at all and am convinced we sold him cheap. Liverpool also came out and said it was a lot less than £34m. Why say that if they really gave us £34m up front? If we had sold him for £15m the year after it would have been better for our overall sales strategy. If they don't think we'll sell before the one year mark, the offers will be bumper ones when they come.

We are predictable. Our policy is predictable. If we vary it up and surprise people now and then we'll get better money in the long term.