... does that phrase make any sense? Bournemouth were the latest club held up as 'the model to follow' yet they're currently a shambles and in real trouble. Villa thought they'd 'push on' but, in reality, have blown their TV money, lumbered themselves with iffy players on long contracts/high wages. West Ham went flat out with what seemed a brave managerial appointment, new stadium, big signings .... ... what they actually have is a dreary stadium with a bubble machine, a disjointed squad and David Moyes
Tbf b'mouth havent spent big, and have tried to live within their means. Fans cant have it both ways. Clubs get lambasted for not being ambitious eg not spending or selling better players, but when they do under the owners cop an earful. Look at west ham Pellegrini has a good reputation. He spent money and brought in players to the extent the fans were excited for this season and most pundits expected a good season. Everton gave Silva a lot of latitude and again the fans were excited. It's big money and its cut throat. Unless there is a sugar daddy or you have a name that sells ( man utd ) the cash flow isnt there . I have no doubt that in the not too distant future burnley will feel the pinch. Take away the top 6 big names and things can go pear shaped very easily. Easy to gloat and point the finger. Ellis short spunked a lot of money on safc. Managers like moyes, advocaat, o'neill wasted almost 100m ( not incl wages ) . Despite the group swoon for each of those managers at the time of appt they were dismal . Add in the 70m that keane utterly wasted almost a decade ago ( not incl wages ) and it easy to be holier than thou in these situations .
As long as Sunderland can keep financially secure I'm in no rush for us to get back to the Premier League. Unless we get someone, like say, some rich Americans, to take over, then trying to stay in the Premier will just chew us up and spit us out again.
I'm a big believer that clubs outside the top 6 of the PL should be financially able to handle going down to the championship. It's a fact that every club outside of that bracket has been in the championship at some point in the last decade. It will happen again to each one of them at some point and as we saw, the more you pin on being in the PL, the harder it hits when the inevitable happens.
Arsenal, spurs and Everton not been out of premier in that time so your “fact” is wrong. (Just being pedantic)
If I won half a million pound i certainly wont go straight to the roulette table at the posh casino in order to try and join some millionaires club. If I owned a football club that made it to the Premier League I wouldnt splash all the cash on the mercenaries who would be the first in the lifeboats before we'd even hit the iceberg. I would up the wages of the players who got me there and promise bonuses to them if they managed to keep us up. If we did go back down I would hope that we would be in a better financial state to have a better crack at getting back up next time. Just keep on ticking over.
The "Norwich model". Seems to me that is the best approach. It worked well for them, West Brom, Leicester, Burnley etc. for periods of time over the last decade. The problem is that the Premier league is everything now and no-one is satisfied with 2/3 years of yo-yoing before establishing yourself for a period of time in the top flight.
The bit that I've highlighted is very true. Under Elis we would panic and sack managers to avoid the drop, where continuity would sometimes have been a better option
There is very little chance of ‘pushing on’ but at least those clubs still have some hope. The premier league is the only place to be for a club with ambition. The novelty of this league has certainly worn off with our fans and who can blame them. I’d much rather be in villa or Bournemouth’s shoes than ours at present.
Depends what your definition of ambition is, but if there is very little chance of pushing on, then what exactly are they risking their whole financial well being on? Clubs who essentially gamble and spend a fortune without a "relegation fund" in place run the risk of being the next Sunderland, Portsmouth, Stoke etc. The championship is even more of a basket case than the premier League with regards to this though. Clubs are mortgaging their entire futures on being promoted to the Premier League in a 2/3 year window. At some point, someone will go all in and when it fails, they'll be in deep ****.
I meant the widely accepted 'top 6' over the last few decades rather than the current top 6, obviously, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton. They're the only teams currently in the PL who haven't been relegated in the last decade.
I know what you meant and I did say I was being pedantic but I was only pointing out you were wrong in what you said something that you usually do to some posters on here.
For a club like Bournemouth to be spending over 50 million, this season and, over 80 million last season, with attendances of roughly just over 10 thousand, is not living within their means. Their wage bill is also now ridiculously big for the amount of revenue that a club of that size generates. They've overachieved just by reaching the Premier league and by continuing to compete they've done very well and we should take our hats off to them. If Bournemouth go down this season, I think that's one club that will be in big danger of completely imploding if they aren't able to complete a full squad clear-out in the very first transfer window. # As for the second point you must surely sympathise with Ellis Short then for the money that he ploughed into the club. At least we agree on something.
i would pay a £1000 a season for a season card if we got back to the premier league, extended the ground to 63,000 and signed a couple of 'fantastic' players. We could have a platinum membership scheme where you pay say £1500 for a card and get into ALL stadium of light events/matches including concerts, champions league, f a cup etc, and get a discount for concerts and champions league games. Bournemouth would get straight back to the premier league though, like Burnley would. i reckon Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth to go down, but Villa with big money signings will be in trouble. for a laugh for next Fridays game i will have a bet on 4-0,3-0,2-0,1-0, 2-1,3-1,4-1,5-1 for the Doncaster game most likely finish 0-0 !
