Thats Huw's "personal" opinion or a collective regarding Bony's fee , we spunked away how much in January ?, on two players, one who's game time is ten minutes and the other 180 or so ,for what to drive a bigger wedge between the then manager and Board , I appreciate we need to be prudent and the Board will continually be commended for looking after the clubs future but to grow we have to accept that a certain success costs money , success for ourselves is to maintain PL status and grow ,whether we like it or not 10- 20 goals a season player costs money at this level ,some things need to be kept within the walls of the Boardroom and to have the Chairman come out with statements the like of which have been quoted shows a lack of ambition.
On the plus side with the new TV money (assuming we survive) just the difference between this years money and next years money will buy us Bony or a similar priced player. One big signing a season for 2-3 years will see us right and keep us well within budget. I'm sure even Huw could find this figure 'easy to sleep with' (dirty stop out!)
Huw is a shrewd chairman and he views paying between £10-£15 million for a player as a huge risk that if they are a flop will cost the club millions so he has a point. We have built our success on finding players for little money and if they are a flop then the club can bare the cost to a certain degree. We have been lucky with bony as he has not been a flop but there are clubs out there like cardiff, QPR and others who have paid way over the odds for players who ended up flops and they have ended up paying out millions of pounds for a number of years that can lead to financial ruin, So i can see exactly where Huw is coming from as we don't want to end up paying millions for a flop which will happen if we keep on thinking that paying mega millions for a player will always buy quality because it don't. There are players out there who are a fraction of the cost that are just as good. This is where our scouts earn their money trying to find these players and this is the way clubs like ours can stay financially secure.
The likes of Michu come along once in a blue moon. We were extraordinarily lucky with him. You get what you pay for ... Beattie, Kuqi, Moore, Graham, bringing Trundle back (cost nothing) .... need I say more. Buying cheap and hoping for the best is not a strategy. Anything based on hope is not a strategy. Monk .... talk about hope, was not a strategy - it was an act based on delusional panic and desperation but not desperation based on our league position or performances as subsequent events have demonstrated. What they were desperate about is anybody's guess.
