I respect what you say Roger, but don't agree with it. Firing someone who took us to eleventh is in itself a statement of intent. Appointing someone of Gianfranco Zola's stature is in itself a statement of intent. Justifying the change by saying that, as good as Dyche was, expectations are completely different, is in itself a statement of intent. Rightly or wrongly, the media will look on this as a failed season if we don't match 2011/12, and I question what that would do for player values. You have correctly identified where the bulk of the money would come from (player sales rather than promotion), but you're missing two factors. 1. Ordinarily if you go up, the extra money (including parachute money if you go back down) is eaten up by transfer fees and inflated wages. But Udinese pay lower wages than most competitive Premier League sides, so that should be less of a factor for us than most of our competitors, and I think there would be some profit to be had there. 2. It's a simple fact that playing well in the Premier League significantly adds to a player's value.
I would like to say that i am not expecting much for the coming season. I would hope that we can consolidate again and can continue to make the transition from Hoofball to football. I would be happy with finishing anywhere from 10th to 14th, i can understand and accept a small drop as it will be a wholesale change in style but possibly in players too. These things take time as we found out last season but so long as we dont take 2 steps backwards i will be content. Of course, i would love to finish in the top 6, but i have to be realistic.
Doncaster was indeed a showcase club last season. They had an agent on the board who was getting a few of his clients into the team. The way Roger puts it, there doesn't seem a lot of difference...except that Doncaster showcased mainly players were near the end of their careers, looking for a final burst from somewhere. As we know, it didn't work...not only did they not get sold on (so far), the didn't do that well, did they!
