Mark Ashton has said we didn’t spend money on established, experienced Premier League players because they wanted higher salaries and wouldn’t accept a relegation wage cut. I can see the thinking - particularly as he made a point of not wanting to risk the club’s future like the last time we got relegated from the Prem - but I think we need to be a bit more aggressive next time. If we could bring in better experienced players on loan compared to this season - that would have helped.
The £150m transfer spend figure is bandied around frequently, but we didn’t blow it all in one summer. Some of that money would be spread over the player contract length. A bit of a cynical accounting trick, but the big clubs all do it these days. Our club accounts are widely considered to be one of the most transparent in English football - from people like Kieran Maguire.
With the dry financial comment out the way - if Thomas Frank moves to Spurs, I’ll be worried. Brentford apparently have McKenna down as their main target. As I said earlier in the thread, they’re likely to lose both Mbeuno and Wissa - their two best attacking players. With Frank going - who has done a brilliant job there - could it be too risky a move for McKenna, taking over a popular, successful long-term club legend? Despite this, I think he should take the job. He’ll have an established, proven PL squad and the recruitment team there have a knack for signing quality players. He’s far more likely to keep Brentford up and attract the interest of a bigger club than he is getting us back up to the Premier League and keeping us there.
