Valid point Huth, but dont all the teams in the league get that income and if proportioned down beacuse of the league position then we would technically have spent more than teams finishing above us? I think I'm right but will stand corrected if not. Positive that on one of the stat sites we were the 3rd highest NET spending team for 2010/2011, 2009/2010 & 2008/2009 but obviouslt there are quite a few undisclosed fees that could affect this overall!
I think we will play both wingers on Thursday. I also think we only play with one because of risk of injury or over exhaustion. Think about the squad when we were playing 2 wingers, we had Wilson filling in at LM now and then, and also Danny Pugh to play there. I know that ain't there natural position, but did well there. Since they've gone, Shotton and Walters are the only others that play wide, and I think the only reason Walters plays LM is because there ain't anyone else. I'm pretty sure that in the transfer window we would have been looking at wingers, but couldn't get the right fit, and that is why we now only have Matty and Pennant. And I know what's coming, "Why did we sell Marshall then?" Rightly or wrongly, the management team didn't think he was good enough. From what I've seen of him, he looked like he could have been, but I've only seen about 3 hours of him playing, compared to the **** knows how many all the club staff had.
They do with league positions, and Sky probably calculate payments on positions too, but them there's all the other sources, Sky and league positions will no doubt make the majority, like renting out boxes and offices for functions etc, and there's all the money we throw at them for tickets, shirts and **** pies. I think the last 2 season we broke even, and made a slight profit (if I remember rightly). Spent a fair bit this year, so I don't know how that sets us on terms of in/outgoing, but we'll be getting Europa money.
It' s a long read but might explain a few things ( if you aint thick like me & can understand it? ) http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/09/where-does-stoke-citys-money-come-from.html
Huthy, going to disagree with you on this point of the £90 million, of course I must agree with you regarding our Income - BUT and here is MY point; it is not about the amount,it IS about what he has spent it on, AND how he deploys his purchases. Take Wilson as an example, £4 million cash plus Kitson and Lawrence (plus Sonko as loose change), so what do you have - an £8 million ( plus ) footballer who is CONSISTENTLY played out of position!!!!! Pulis has TOTALLY screwed up Walters, the one guy who needed to be 'rested/rotated' but run into the ground. Jerome, cost £4 million, what 6 games and 4 goals. What's the point og carrying on with my point, only Pulis can change things, either he cannot or will not, take your pick.
Nicky all i was trying too explain, was that we have not realistically spent the amount of money reported. Yes the capped one(in my eyes), has bought the wrong players for the wrong positions we needed & still do need, to really push on & challenge for Europe on a regular basis 2 proper full backs 1 Centre mid who does not **** himself when he gets the ball 2 wing cover 1 fox in the box striker Whether he gets the players that all the FANS WANT, & them play then in their proper positions, is another story.
I think Mighty Huth has a point actually.. The thing that hanker's with me is simple.. some of the player's we've spent money on?? big question marks there for sure. 12 mill for Crouch..7ish for Palacios.. take that 90 odd if it is correct and minus those two signings call it 20 million.. that's 70 million since promotion if I read that link correctly? But, figure's ain't my best subject. At least the one's on paper are not! It's the quality of player's or (lack of) which looks bad on Pulis right now. Footie is still awful at times and whichever way you swing it... that's never right Management on T.Ps part. He does have a knack of keeping us up. Let's just hope for another 3 wins which will go a long way towards making sure we are here next season...
I agree about Walters, one of our best players, and that is the only reason I can think of for him not being rested, but all that game time is showing now, and has been for a few weeks. I'd love to see Jerome play more, hopefully he will start against Valencia. Pulis is reluctant to drop Walters, and I think Crouch is in all the time to keep him happy, but one of them needs to drop down to give Jerome a go. And then there's Wilson, and again I agree, it was stupid to "spend" 8mil on a make shift LB, but he is our best LB! Higgy never quite came back, and I think his loan was the right thing to do, to get him fit and playing again, and Collins is a bit ****e.
Its interesting about Collins (and agree with your assessment) but TP stuck, by him week in week out and then BAM - gone at the expence off a high value midfielder! Two things here, One: Why persist with something that doesnt't work at the expence of better options & Two: Why not work with a player, but playing him in and out of games, through rotation and subs to try and develope him and his confidence? Instead, suddenely you go from playing X amount of games straight to being an outcast, how is that physically possibile? I remember a quote by TP when we hit a bad run in the early stage of out trip to the "promised land" - it went something along the lines of "blah, blah, blah... we pick our team and set it up the way we want to play, regardless of who the opposition is......." - I think it was when we got battered by Chelsea but I may be mistaken. Now, I admit that I dont have the qualifications, experience etc of TP but I do have experience of coaching and playing a team support at both national and international level and one thing is for sure, you always train and pick your team based on the opposition by attacking their weaknesses and neutralising their strenghths - not ignoring them!
