I wish we could get a bit of perspective about the transfer windows. It would make things much easier for the club and manager to progress quietly. All the fans hullabaloo just does us no favours. It unsettles the club and its players, and drives the prices up as all the other chairman look at us as desperate. The manager doesn't help being honest. I was interested hearing Hughton's comments about the summer: http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/162...hectic_summer_of_transfer_business_at_Albion/ A much more serene approach and acknowledgment there is not just endless amounts of money to spend. Brighton spent 56m this season net. They spent 7.9m net the previous season. 11.5m net the season before that. Compare that with ourselves, 22m net this season, -£30m net the season before, 91m net the year before that. So we've outspent them over a 3 year period. Our wage bill outstrips them by quite a bit, we spend more on agents. They are looking taper back their spend, and solidify. The manager is happy to do so and the fans think everyone is doing a great job. Then you look at us, we are looking to spend again with some fans hoping for 70m plus, the manager is chuntering on about funds, the fans are moaning prior to the window. All this and we are currently sat above them in the table, looking to spend more than them in the summer, having spent more over the last 3 years. Being honest I think the fans need to take a long hard look at themselves and look around them for a reality check with other clubs. We should spend more than a Brighton and we do. We just can't spend what the likes of Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal, Everton, Leicester spend. They have wealthy guys behind them willing to throw personal funds at it. We match up to the rest and we have a better manager. We should be aiming to be the 9th best club next season. Of course the likes of Wolves and Fulham if they come up will have their say given the huge backing they have.
No, we should be aiming to be the best. Leicester didn't win the PL by aiming to be the 9th best. Realistically it is extremely unlikely that we would end up being the best but that is where we should be aiming and not 9th. Most of the rest of the post is simply Ashley's son at his best and not 9th best.
Again realism is not in your vocabulary is it. Ranieri actually stated his ambition was to to get to 40 points. This continued into November. It was only in April that he finally conceded they were in the title race - a month before the end of the season. Sorry to burst the bubble of delusion once again. Leicester achieved their dreams by being realistic about where they were as a club and extracting the maximum out of the resources, both in transfers and coaching. 1m for Vardy, 400k for Mahrez, Kante 5.6m, Morgan 1m, Huth 3m, Drinkwater 750k, Schmeichel 1.5m. 14m to amass the core of their team. A top coach to develop them. No whining about transfer funds, a unified club with unified approach. Our manager and fans would do well to take that in.
I'm not bothered with how much they spent. The Leicester City players would not have gone into the season thinking we'll aim for 9th. They will have gone in with the aim to win every game which if achieved would have meant they would be Champions. Or are you saying they went in to win 12 games, draw 4 games and to lose the rest?
No every team tries to win every single game. However every team sets realistic targets also. The target Ranieri set was 40 points. A realistic starting point given they were almost relegated the season before. Given our proximity to 9th place, our flirting with relegation, and our likely budgets, I think being the 9th best team in the league by the end of the 2018/19 season is a realistic target for ourselves. I think we should try and win every game too. I know these facts are getting in the way of your whining and moaning about a window not yet open, but lets try and pull together like Leicester. Who knows what could be achieved if supporters like yourself would come back into the fold and get behind the club. We're divided at present by this silly transfer window moaning, its not doing the club any good.
Tell your Dad that if it's good enough for Rafa to be looking and planning ahead to the next transfer window then I'm happy to follow his lead.We can pull together if your Dad stops trying to mess Rafa about.
My dad says he has never messed Rafa about, that is just delusional fans putting 2 and 2 together, then deciding it makes 120m. He says Rafa will get all of the money available, and if he rejects it and leaves, it will be down to Rafa not believing that Newcastle United can match his ambition financially. It won't be anyones fault, it will just be because the club can't generate the money he wants. He says he hopes if that happens we don't have the usual NUFC supporter histrionics reminiscent of a 5 yr old child stamping its feet in Fenwicks because it can't have another toy. Like when the previous Messiah Kevin Keegan threw his toys out and left the club in the clarts before taking it court for more money. At least Keegan had some sort of genuine grievance, Rafa has none. He'd just be jumping ship because the challenge is too great.
Lets just assume your net transfer figures are correct. Based on that over 3 years we have made a net spend of £7.6m greater than Brighton. What you haven't mentioned (or considered, I don't know which) is the fact that during those 3 years we have had 2 years of Premiership money and 1 year of Championship, with a parachute payment. Where as Brighton have had 3 years of Championship income. I'm not sure what the different in income would be over that period based on that but I think we can safely say it would be considerably more than £7.6 million. Remind me how much do they say the Championship playoff game is worth to the clubs again?
I think relegation's cost about 30m. You then have massive outlays in terms of squad regeneration with selling players and buying new (along with all the agent fees that go with it for the buying club). To be honest the difference in income is soon eaten up. Remember also that Brighton have already admitted to having spent a good portion of this years TV money which they technically didn't have. Its a gamble which has paid off but had they not stayed up they may not have been bouncing straight back. We haven't spent all of this years money, only that which has already hit our bank. Honestly the hysteria should stop, we're in good nick. It might not be enough to keep Rafa though. He may want more again which is his prerogative but people have to understand Mike is highly unlikely to go to his personal fortune to add to the budget for him. If he does the selling price just goes up. I have heard people saying they think we are going to generate 70m-80m profit. I just can't see how that is the case personally. I think we'll generate about half that. Hopefully we can sell another 30m-40m (maybe more) through the likes of Mitrovic, Joselu, Hayden, Mbemba, Haidara, Sels, Gamez, Manquillo, Darlow, Colback, Saivet, Lazaar. All of those don't seem to feature in Rafa's plans. Hayden and Joselu have played but both look out of their depth. Mitrovic and Mbemba though good enough appear to be surplus to requirements. I'd be happy if we can spend 60m-80m depending on what we can shift. Dubravka looks a done deal at 4m. Ideally we'd buy Kenedy but that is 25m according to reports. That would be 29m gone. We'd still need a number 10, a striker, and full backs. Maybe this will all be meaningless as we will finally get a serious bidder at the table.
60m-80m including sales. I think we will generate about 30m-40m to use this season. If we can shift 40m in sales then I don't think 70m-80m is unrealistic. Its not unthinkable when you consider Mitrovic is looking like bringing half of that. However you have to be prepared for problems when trying to sell players you don't want. There is a reason you don't want them. Whether Rafa can shift his duds in Hayden, Manquillo, Sels, Gamez, Joselu, Lazaar is difficult to say. Some did an ok job like Hayden. However overall these weren't great buys and are eating up a lot of wages along with the other unwanted. Then we have the clutter of players who were here before he arrived. So fees is one thing, but we could generate greater wage budgets too. We have a wage budget we should be trying to stick to as it is a crippler if you get into trouble. Those listed above amount to probably 350k per week in wages. For players who don't really contribute anything. Indeed the one contributing the most is only on 10k. That's a whopping 18.2m off the annual wage budget. Our business outgoing could have a massive impact on our ability to trade positively incoming.
Where are you plucking these numbers from? There is no way those players are getting anywhere near £60k/week each.
Personally (and yes I am only guessing here, as I haven't seen the account for this year) we didn't spend all the money we generated. I believe Mike Ashley kept some back just in case he was unable to sell and we got relegated again. That way, if that did happen, he wouldn't have to put any of his personal money into the club to try and get us promoted again. We wouldn't have had anything like the player assets we had the previous time we were relegated. My hope is, if this is true, that any money held back is released along with the money for this year we didn't spend. If this is still not enough to keep Rafa then at least we can say the club did everything it could to keep him.
I listed 12 players originally Mbemba - 30k Mitrovic - 60k Colback - 35k (rumours suggest more) Lazaar - 15K Darlow - 15K Joselu - 50k Hayden - 10K Gamez - 35k Manquillo - 40k Haidara - 20k Sels - 35k Saivet - 35k 380K. Ok I undersold it a bit. More like 19.76m off the wage bill. Soon adds up...
Every time we've gone down Ashley has put his hand in his pocket to ensure we went back up. He has never budgeted for relegation or failure.
Nah we've spent plenty of money. We just don't spend it very well. Hopefully this summer will see a departure from that trend. If we spend well we should stay up and build.
He put his hand in his pocket last time did he? I thought player sales (and the reduced wage because of it), plus the parachute money meant he didn't need to? I know he did the time before that.
General Lee would know best, I'm sure he was able to confirm that it was 33m in total over the two relegations. Something like that anyway. This time I think it was linked to the Gini and Sissoko transfers being in installments. So while it looked like we banked 55m, we didn't. He knew he would get that money back though either this season or if a sale goes through. Still good of him because he could just have said no to Rafa and told him to operate on a smaller budget.
