we had problems scoring before gabbi arrived. both gabbi and austin are good enough if given the the chance. thing they are different players and need different service. playing them both is my choice
If we're backing MP2 in the transfer market, Nico Gaitan purportedly available. I'd have this kid for 15m. I'd be equally happy if he brought his mate Vietto over too. If our manager couldn't get this pair of countrymen clicking he's a lost cause.
Jamie Carragher saying that Virgil's price is dropping....very true but mainly because his price was over-inflated in the first place. He's like that extra special handbag that everyone (= every idiot) wants as it is the height of fashion, but now...so last year. He was never worth 70 million before (which was probably unlikely anyway). Hasn't helped that we aren't looking so good either....he used to be more attacking than he is looking now.....and his main suitors have moved on a bit.
His price may be dropping from the reported £70m, but he would still improve every top 6 teams squad, so there will still be interest and his price will be inflated if multiple teams are interested. This could be an example of why players have to get their move when the opportunity presents itself though, if he continues to be slated in the press then the big teams may start looking at the new flavour of the month and Virgil has missed his chance at least temporarily. It is why I don't get annoyed at players like Shaw/Chamberlain jumping ship so early or any of our other players who wanted out, football is so fickle that you just never know if the opportunity will present itself again.
Virgil misses chance of big move....surely my heart will break for him Nope...Just checked....heart still intact.
The money is pretty much useless to us as we’re technically a rich club anyway. More useful to us is any useful players as part of a structured deal. (Even when I write this, I still think back to that goalkeeper from Spurs.... next big thing don’t you know...!!) If he goes to Chelsea, they have players a plenty that are rotated all the time but could be useful here, same goes for Arsenal or a couple of youngsters from City/United if they got involved. I think we all know that if we just got £65 million in a suitcase, Uncle Les only counts in multiples of £15 million when signing new players.
That depends though, if we want to stay a rich club and not spend unless we sell then the money does become important. We have no idea what the intentions are of the new owner atm, but going from past history we only spent roughly what we sold. Someone told me awhile ago, so no idea if still true, that we would've actually been making losses each year if it weren't for our large player sales. It is a bit chicken and egg, ie we wouldn't have spent as much on transfers if we hadn't sold half the team, but that indicates to me that unless the new owner wants to splash the cash we will continue along sustainably and that we may look to sell before buying.
How many PL teams do make a profit? There's a lot of money coming in, but clubs must spend a lot to tread water and probably are already feeding loans upon promotion. I bet only the top clubs with extensive earnings from overseas sales and shirt deals etc make substantial money.
Not many teams can afford to play with a striker that doesn't offer anything aside from finishing chances in the box. I'm sure it's the same reason Hernandez isn't even starting for West Ham now, strikers like that are dying along with conventional wingers. Austin was useless with the ball (though he did work hard without it) against Leicester and missed a guilt edge chance at a vital time, though it was decent keeping from Schmeichel, Austin should have buried that but his lack of mobility let him down. He doesn't offer enough for me, and a the purple patch of goals he's going through doesn't change my opinion.
I agree with a fair bit of what you say there, but when you're on a bad run like we are then beggars can't be choosers and I'll take what we can get.
We're a long way beyond 'sustainable', and have been for some time. We no longer have the debt as a justification for why we need to clear 20-30m (not paper profit, but income less expenses) each year, either. It's entirely possible that we were bought as a profit-generating vehicle, and may continue as such, but I'd consider that foolhardy until we've shored up our PL standing.
Can you shore up your PL standing in the long term....each season stands alone. We could be 4th for 5 years and still get relegated the next. Unless that was what you meant....sorry if I misunderstood. As for profits....I would assume that people buy clubs to generate income so have no problem with profits for the owners....but all a matter of balance. Owners take income by ensuring the club thrives...good.; owners extract income to the detriment of club....bad. At the moment we have no idea about our invisible owners.
If I were Les, I would go all out to sign either Fabregas or Iniesta, whose time with Barca is coming to an end. Offer either 100k pw, because I am sure we would not have to pay a transfer fee for either. The outlay would be more than offset by more people wanting to come to St Mary's, increased TV revenue, and increased interest around the world. Added to that would be the possibility of attracting a higher calibre of player as well to complement such a signing.
I thought that was the preserve of PFC a few years ago and their invisible Sheiks, and the only ones without money!!
Top plan until you factor in that neither Iniesta or Fabregas would want to come, and 100k pw is probably far less than what either is earning now. I really doubt we will be doing much/anything this window, maybe a loan.
