Not that I'm aware, but we won't be offering near what those will offer. Considering derbys current situation the money they are offering for wages is outrageous
They both desperately need to get games. It made sense to carry a huge squad last season, but we don't need to this year. Both struggled to make the bench but are highly rated by the club, hence the new contracts. McLoughlin hasn't played regularly for 18 months, Fleming is 21 and has barely played 30 pro games. If we want them to develop then they need to play, sitting in the stands does nobody any good. Elder doesn't miss many games and we can cover LB, but let's see how many defenders we bring in first. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if we brought two in.
With our 'mid table' budget? An increasingly common theme. How many more clubs can there be above us in the budget stakes?
Well considering our budget places us in the bottom half of mid table, it's not hard to work out. We don't need to nor do we want to get into bidding wars for players with clubs who are willing to get more and more into debt Do you want the club to be sustainable, the allams to lower the debt and leave or do you want us splashing stupid cash around and the debt getting higher and they stay.... You can't have it both ways.
Clubs generally operate on two player per position. Unless you're in Premier League and Bruce is managing us. Then he has to make do with just less than one per position! Bizarrely, i think we had a deeper squad last season than for a long long time. Maybe in case of Covid outbreaks/more subs? Plus we had more kids in the squad than ever before.
I don't want the extreme you put forward in your reply (splashing stupid cash ....); there needs to be a sensible middle ground if we are to thrive in the Championship. Question. Where does this 'bottom half of mid-table' come from that you are quoting? Didn't Ehab state we had a mid-table budget? My point was that imo he was talking bollox (again) when he said we would have a mid-table budget. That would mean our budget would be higher than roughly 12 other Championship clubs. As I said after the interview was published, no way on earth will that be the case.
I'd heard before that interview that we were second lowest? Not sure where that was from, but is that more realistic?
In general there is 3 groupings in a league, top/mid table/bottom. From what I've seen,heard and know ( which as I always say may be totally wrong ) our playing budget puts us in the bottom half of the mid table grouping, but things change daily and it could be higher, it could be lower. Let's be realistic for a min, we aren't going to thrive in the champ unless ( and I hate using ehabs phrase ) punch above our weight. Our budget should make us safe but unless we over achieve, then we won't be knocking on the playoffs.... But the squad we have, never say never
Ehab states ours is mid table. Nothing about 3 groupings and us being bottom half of the middle grouping. We are nowhere near mid table budget. Why can't he and his old man just speak the truth rather than lie after lie. Personally i think what Askew heard is nearer the truth. Agree with the other comments.