The club would be stupid not to give Rafa funds

I'm a lover of good music but terrible at producing any myself. I see you have a similar affliction.

 

Cards on the table time chaps:

How much money do you the think the club will be able to generate for Rafa? Your guesstimates should include money generated through possible player sales. This is what the club is capable of generating, not what you think Rafa will be given (even if they are in actual fact one in the same thing)

I’ll go first. I think the club will be able to generate a net spend of 40m. I think we will spend 70m with 30m generated through sales. That will be about right once you consider all the outgoing costs. I think Rafa will be given all of it too.

 

I think £30m + player sales is likely. Ashley would hold some of the club's cash back. There is also the £33m short term loan which he could demand to be paid back.

 

Amazingly, I think you're not too far from the mark there to be honest. The money coming in from television (£120m+) comes in installments and many people are jumping the gun on when that money is available. With season ticket sales etc I think £40m is pretty much on the bottom end of the scale but certainly anyone thinking £60m+ is living on another planet. I'd say more like £50m plus player sales but I can't see a huge amount of money being made on sales - Mitrovic (£10-12m), Colback (£2m), Gayle (£7m) and then no-one else of any particular value. Players like Joselu, Hayden, Aarons, etc who people may want to ship out simple aren't going to be sold; I can see a few being moved on for effectively nothing though (how many keepers do we need?).

How much will Rafa actually be given? I suspect our net spend will be less than £30m.

 

Never been much of a musician you’re right. I can hold a tune though.

Altogether now...

There’s only one Mike Ashley...

 

See I've got no problem with this. Play it safe and clear our debts, if you told me now that we spent two more years finishing 10-15th but at the end of that time we had cleared £50m+ of debt or loans then I'd take that. It's about transparency, fans can legitimately ask where the money is going. For all the wumming ****e Free-dor spouts we do all know that when you sell a player for £10m and buy one for £10m you haven't actually broken even, you're probably a fair few million down (tax, agents fees, signing on fees, loyalty payments) and when you stretch that out to a number of people coming in and out there's a big hole appears in the finances.

If Ashley came out after the window and said they were only willing to commit £25m (or whatever) as they wanted to reduce debt then that's fine by me. But we all suspect we'll spend a minimal amount and nothing will be explained by the club. As a result we'll be left on here hold our cocks and having to listen to people like Free-dor explain that actually it's perfectly understandable that the powerhouses of Brighton, Huddersfield and newly promoted Accrington Stanley outspent us as it's been a bad year for Merlot and the exchange rate to Yorkshire regions is particularly favorable.

 

If you can hold a gun feel free to pass Ashley a message

Altogether now...

There's only one bullet needed...









ps. I jest of course, it's actually poor taste but seemed to fit nicely as a response.

 

For me Ashley’s a Chancer.

He’s gone through a season where his net spend is about £11M. We are likely to finish somewhere between 9th and 14th. He will see that as a good result particularly given the Sky money coming in. Rafa stayed when a lot of people were expecting him to walk, firstly, after an unsatisfactory summer transfer window and, secondly, after a poor January window. Poor in the sense that we didn’t buy any players and all deals were left to the last minute.

If he stays and doesn’t sell what suggests that Ashley is going to change his spots? He will attempt to do it all on the cheap, again. He will aim to do the same again next season and figure as Rafa managed mid table with 5 games to go this season then he can do it again next season with the same sort of budget.

The sooner he goes and sells the better for the Club. I hope I’m wrong but looking at history I can’t see I will be. Ashley has made so many promises in the past and broken them what evidence is there to say he won’t again.

 

The real shame is that on the one occasion he did loose the reigns and splash out we got relegated. Clearly it was following seasons of under-investment and scraping by the skin of our teeth but to Ashley I do worry that he'll simply think there isn't a particular correlation between spending and survival.

 

We didn't have the money to spend last summer after getting £7m for winning the Championship. He was true to his word and let Rafa spend what the club had, which, as we all know, was **** all. That policy was in line with the previous 2 seasons when sometimes we had money and sometimes we didn't. You could have doubts about the winter window this season because there was supposed to be money there, maybe £20m or more, but we brought in 3 on loan. Loaning rather than buying I think was most likely a combination of who was available at the time and Mikey wanting to keep the club lean and as attractive as possible for any potential buyer but it puts a doubt in your mind as to whether the policy has changed.

If he continues this policy of giving the manager whatever is in the bank then we will be in good shape. Whatever people want to argue the actual figure is, I think we can all agree that there will be far more money in the coffers this summer. One of the most positive things seems to be that these days Ashley doesn't really want to know about the club and keeps his beak out for the most part so hopefully the strategy will continue and I think he'll realise how important it will be to keep Rafa, and that will involve giving him a healthy transfer budget. I think the biggest problem will end up being the wages we are offering because we won't go up a class of player without being willing to pay them more so even wanting to spend money transfer-wise may be difficult. Wages is definitely an area where Ashley will want to control to keep us lean for selling the club. If the club is bought then all this is a moot point and things could get quite tasty transfer-wise.

 

You are underestimating what those two strikers would bring in. You could possibly double those numbers.

 

I'd agree. For Mitro now, after the form he has been in, £20million would be/should be the lowest figure even contemplated. I would hope for more. Gayle hasn't been playing terribly, just not scoring enough and has proven his value to Championship teams... So again, way north of £7million.

 

And Charnley, Ashley and fishing.

So using your astute grasp on reality, give us a number. What will the club spend as a figure this Summer?

By your reckoning everything it possibly can. By most estimates that’s got to be near £60m all in? Not including player sales, but possibly including wages.

 

See #22 for Pouchy's guess...

 

You read what he types???

 

It's hard to miss it! Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan have been showing it on TV.

****watch 2018

 

£65.01m

 

Come on keep up at the back!

 

As many have intimated, we can all see the improvement but we all know Mike Ashley couldn't care less.

No progression, just enough to stay in the division and watch the TV money pour in.

Sickening and frustrating but then, Ashley has been the same for the last decade.

 

I am a pessimist, but also a realist. There is a loan to M Ashley sitting on the balance sheet to the tone of £130m+.

He currently want £300 million (possibly more) for the club, £130m+ to repay the loan and £170m the NBV of the club (approx).

What he most likely will do is use the cash influx to reduce the debt owed to him. Then the club Value he would sell for is reduced, making it a more viable selling opportunity.

It would mean less money to spend on transfer fees but if he sells the club then this is not his problem.

I honestly think this summer is the one he will try and sell on while everything is hunkydory.

Thus I conclude that we will sell all our best players and get relegated.