I'd be happy if I was a Norwich fan as well, but it does seem that you would need to start splashing cash eventually if you want to stay in the league. Sad but true
Have you paid any attention to Saints over the last couple of years? We've taken plenty of what you might call financial risks, and they've all paid off. We're a lot better run than the likes of QPR and Leicester who seem to be pissing their money away. We don't want to seem cocky and act like we immediately belong in the Premier League, but the ambition of the club is to start pushing towards Europe in the next few years, and you don't get there without spending money.
ask yourself this question. would you like our club to spend more than they can afford on players transfer fees and wages? if you answer YES, there's a very real chance our club will go bankrupt or could even cease to exist if you get a bit of bad luck. if you answer NO, you're sensible. our club have a budget for a reason. if its not high enough to secure the players we want, then tough - clearing the debt is more important and its down to the manager to find some more 'hidden gems'. that's the reality
To be fair the transfer 'could be up to 7m' so I don't think the down payment will be anywhere near that and will have a lot to do with his success at the club which is smart business. Wish we could get him but I'm hoping Lambo has someone up his sleeve..hopefully from abroad as I don't see many unearthed British gems.
How crazy do you think it is that Arsenal signed Chamberlain for £15m, or Bale to Tottenham for £10m? That's turned out alright for them both hasn't it? Just because the shoe is now on our foot and not a bigger clubs doesn't mean it's not as good a investment, if you have the money at your disposal and it's not going to be putting you in any financial danger then it should be spent. Our Executive Chairman used to be a banker, he's not stupid and is a very astute business man. Trust me, he would not sanction this amount of money to be spent if it was not seen as a good investment. See, this sort of thing is what really gets on my nerves. We're not spending bucket loads on has-beens like QPR/West Ham did last season, we're spending the going rate for an exciting young talent that will be with us for years to come instead of signing an older player for a lesser fee (Say £3-5m) that we'd have to replace for another £5m+ in a few years. All in all we've not actually spent a LOT in recent years, we've just spent wisely - Since we were taken over in 2009 we have not spent more than £1.8m on one single player. We also have a current wage cap of around £25k, but only Lambert and Lallana are on that.
not sure what the beef is with saints to be honest. yes they were in administration but they have completely different owners and are being run sensibly. their aim is the same as ours - to be self-sufficient without the need for premier league money to keep the club going. i applaud any club that does that
I see your point, I must admit though I don't think 7m for a young English striker with pace is a lot , skill and quality finishing. Unfortunately the price for English talent now is far more than buying abroad. I am however not skeptical because with NA and Cortese I have never had more faith in the clubs management and I'f they think he's worth that I'm happy
I do believe you are better run than many other clubs and Rodriguez would be a good signing but I wouldn't want Norwich to gamble what they can't afford on him. Has your club actually said they want to be pushing for Europe in the next few years? Seems very ambitious
i wasn't referring to saints buying jay rod - you can afford him because your wage budget is a bit bigger and you'll have a bigger budget as you aren't devoting so much cash to clearing debts. i was referring to why norwich can't afford to bring him in! as you'll see from earlier in this article, i believe £7m for the player is about right in today's market. its crazy money but that's just how it is right now
Well, we finished 12th this season when we didn't spend more than just over £3m on one player. I see no reason why this can't continue. My point is, it is very much a risk for a newly promoted team to spend £7m on one player, especially when he's not a proven Premier League player. Not even QPR spent that on one transfer fee
Yep.Our chairman,Nicola Cortese,has previously stated that he wants our club to be self-sufficient,with a team consisting of academy graduates (50% of the first team) and pushing for champions league footballl with a view in the future of expanding the stadium to 50k.
Too right. We will always be tremendously grateful for Markus Liebherr's contribution, and I promise you we know not to take the money for granted after some of the **** we've been through, but the aim has always been to be self-sufficient.
I am frustrated as you appear to be following our model of signing the gems from lower league...however you have a larger budget which could make you more attractive and steal our targets whereas last year we had no competition as QPR are just dumb. Please go away! ;-)
now THAT is ambitious. probably a bit overly ambitious. our plan is bang on the money - capacity to 35k within the next two years, become self-sufficient without the need for premier league money and aim for winning trophies/european football within the next four years. saints plans as highlighted above are suspect. to get 50% of home-grown players contesting champions league football in a 50k stadium sounds like a distant dream to me. admire the optimism but this is southampton we are talking about.
Yes, and it's a long term strategy which starts with the foundations. We already have the world-class academy and training facilities, but we will need a bigger stadium and a higher ticket revenue, because we won't be relying on cash injections from some Emirati tycoon. We'll always be spending within our means.
You are aware of the players we've produced right? What does "this is Southampton we are talking about" mean?
just because you've produced some cracking youngsters doesn't mean you can continue to do it. my line about 'this is southampton we are talking about' referred more to the optimistic capacity of 50k. i know southampton pretty well - there is no way a stadium that size would ever get filled - the most would be 42k at best but even that might be pushing it, even with a successful team
I'm perfectly aware and whilst I admire the majority of players produced at Southampton I will always hate you for handing Walcott a professional contract ;-)
