NCFC spending - why are we not competitive?

[Fakenham Canary 0]

Lots of talk about what signings we need this week and who we should be looking at. We have been in the Prem for four out of five seasons, and the TV money this year is reported to be the biggest ever, yet we still seem unable to compete financially with even the top few Championship clubs. Look at what Boro are spending this window to have a go at promotion. We get there, and then seem reluctant to spend any money. If you compare us to other so called yo-yo sides, normally on the second coming they blow a bit of cash to try and reach that fabled mid-table mediocracy - look at WBA and West Ham as examples, two clubs which arent that dissimilar to our own club in size. When an opportunity to try and progress has presented itself, they have taken it with both hands.

Look at the way Swansea, Stoke and Palace have spent and developed really strong squads - I dont know what financial backing any of those three have specifically but you dont hear about them being close to bankruptcy because they have over-spent? So why exactly are we so cautious?

One thing that crossed my mind is the selling on of players. It is a very long time since we have sold someone on for big money, and while we made a bit on Fer and Snodgrass last year neither went for big money. You wonder whether we have been a bit unlucky compared to some of these clubs, all of which have sold players on to top teams for good money, which has presumably facilitated the subsequent development of their squads. When was the last time we have been able to cash in on a coveted player? If Redmond plays as well as we all think he might this year and someone comes knocking in January with £25 million, then maybe that could be the type of reinvestment catalyst we need. Three £8 million players to bolster the squad for the rest of the season. Until something like that happens I fear we are stuck in a rut of uninspiring transfer windows.

[Wiz 0]

Until Smith and Jones go nothing will change, sorry, but that''s as I see it. [:(]

[PurpleCanary 6,386]

[quote user="Fakenham Canary"]Lots of talk about what signings we need this week and who we should be looking at. We have been in the Prem for four out of five seasons, and the TV money this year is reported to be the biggest ever, yet we still seem unable to compete financially with even the top few Championship clubs. Look at what Boro are spending this window to have a go at promotion. We get there, and then seem reluctant to spend any money. If you compare us to other so called yo-yo sides, normally on the second coming they blow a bit of cash to try and reach that fabled mid-table mediocracy - look at WBA and West Ham as examples, two clubs which arent that dissimilar to our own club in size. When an opportunity to try and progress has presented itself, they have taken it with both hands.

Look at the way Swansea, Stoke and Palace have spent and developed really strong squads - I dont know what financial backing any of those three have specifically but you dont hear about them being close to bankruptcy because they have over-spent? So why exactly are we so cautious?

One thing that crossed my mind is the selling on of players. It is a very long time since we have sold someone on for big money, and while we made a bit on Fer and Snodgrass last year neither went for big money. You wonder whether we have been a bit unlucky compared to some of these clubs, all of which have sold players on to top teams for good money, which has presumably facilitated the subsequent development of their squads. When was the last time we have been able to cash in on a coveted player? If Redmond plays as well as we all think he might this year and someone comes knocking in January with £25 million, then maybe that could be the type of reinvestment catalyst we need. Three £8 million players to bolster the squad for the rest of the season. Until something like that happens I fear we are stuck in a rut of uninspiring transfer windows.[/quote]No, it isn''t.

[Branston Pickle 4,150]

I think you''ll find that we had started spending bigger under CH - bearing in mind that prices have hiked since then, RVW was the equivalent of c£12m now. We were relegated, though, so it can hardly be a surprise that we have had to take a step back in our financial dealings - this is hardly rocket science.

[Indy 3,471]

No surviving this year will lead to the biggest TV money revenue for our club, so just as important to balance the spending against the risk of relegation.

One thing is clear we lack goals and we give away goals, we still have the same defence which concede 68 goals two seasons ago with no improvements.

Brady is a winger who can fill in at left back.

[Google Bot 3,934]

We are a club with ethics and want to spend within our means, at least i hope that''s the reasoning. The money which is wasted away on ludicrous fee''s and agents is shocking in relation to the ''real'' world, and i applaud the board for not being another brick in the wall.

Once you start to show the cash, it makes it harder to keep the value down for each subsequent transfer, unless you can build the club to a position where players are actively wanting to join us.

The location we are in goes against this, so mainly we have to firstly wave enough money to the parent club, then wave enough money to the player, and then try to sell the club to that player.

money being the primary factor in bringing players here means that we cannot afford to break our stance or we would get walked over.

4 out of 5 seasons suggest that the board are doing a great job, we''ve a great squad, and the transfer window is not shut yet - you can guarantee we''ll get someone of significant worth (Forward) before it closes.

One positive currently is that AN gets a proper view of his team in competitive matches before we''ve blown our budget, and he can make a proper case of getting a proven scorer in now.

[Fakenham Canary 0]

I really hope you''re right GB and that it isnt just another Becchio/Kamara 5 minutes to midnight job. The Championship is getting harder to get out of with every season that passes and we might not get another chance again so soon should we go back down. Balancing the books is great but its a whole lot harder to do in the lower leagues. There are teams below [such as our beloved neighbours] who would sell their souls to have a crack at this division with a promising young manager. Lets hope he keeps us up with what we have and he gets a comparatively similar budget next year to that presented to Hughton prior to the relegation season.

[ellis206 0]

Don''t even know what people are worried about, just look at all the accounts from recent seasons under this board, every spare penny has gone in to the playing budget, it''ll be the same again this season

[Google Bot 3,934]

ellis - my only real concern is that a player (Rickie Lambert) who i felt could really make a difference to us has been sold to an opponent for what seems such a small transfer fee - i appreciate wages on top of that may be grand.

However, bang for buck (Wages included), Lambert had to be the most sensible signing for us to make - if we couldn''t score with him sat up top, i don''t know how else we could.

So, why didn''t we go in for him? Wages really an issue? I can''t believe that as his fee was low. Did Lambert not want to join the club and stay closer to home? Did he have a chat with Holt who didn''t have kind words regarding our board maybe?!

That''s my only concern this transfer window... why did we let him go? I''ve now got the opinion that we''re looking at bigger/better fish - which is why i think we''ll sign someone of significance before the windows closed.

[NCFCgardener 0]

You cant judge a squad based on the amount of money you spend, QPR have gone crazy with signings twice and its got them nowhere.

Personally, I think we have done good business, whats missing are a CB and a Striker, probably the most important and hardest positions to recruit for. We wont be ripped off and Im happy with that.

1 game and the doom mongers are out already!

[Guest]

Part of the problem has been the failure of our scouting network to find quality players at a decent price. This is where clubs comparable to Norwich are doing well.

RVW and Hooper are the best examples of this failure, and probably why the club have now stuck to buying in players with some proven Premier League experience.

This new approach makes some sense. However, Brady''s fee shows how inflated the local market is. I''m sure there are far better players available in Europe for that price. It''s just that our scouts seemingly can''t find them.

[grefstad 0]

It is as simple as this:

1. Norwich is a small fish in a big pond.

2. Norwich is a backwater for ambitious players

3 Norwich is a club risky to sign for since we will fight relegation, every year.

4. McNasty will not pay the cost

5. Evidence of Norwich not producing players with significantly higher resale value.

6. Boardroom prudence

7. CEO incentives is mostly in the economic area, hence he is paid to do it on the cheap

[morty 0]

So you are judging us against 3 sides that have had a consecutive longer run than us in the top division, and you don''t know anything about their financial backing or situations, and still can''t, maybe, see the obvious answer?

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Indy"]One thing is clear we lack goals.....[/quote]Lol. We''ve played one game, scored two excellent goals (one cruelly disallowed) and been denied a certain penalty. You do spout some nonsense Indy.

[Buh 0]

It''s probably partly an image problem (norwich is in the middle of nowhere, I think most foreigners want to be in a big city) and partly the fact that, contrary to popular belief, when we got promoted the premier league don''t send a dump truck of pound coins for David mcnally to Scrooge mcduck around in or a dodgy guy with an aluminium attaché case full of reddies

I''m pretty sure the transfer of cash and multi million pound deals are more complex to sort out.

[Absent Friend 0]

Although transfer fees make the headlines the biggest issue is really the salary budget.

Until we find a way of offering appropriate salaries to better quality players - without hacking off the guys we already have - we will struggle to improve the squad to the level of mid-Premiership rather than one permanently fighting relegation.

[TCCANARY 263]

[quote user="Google Bot"]ellis - my only real concern is that a player (Rickie Lambert) who i felt could really make a difference to us has been sold to an opponent for what seems such a small transfer fee - i appreciate wages on top of that may be grand. However, bang for buck (Wages included), Lambert had to be the most sensible signing for us to make - if we couldn''t score with him sat up top, i don''t know how else we could. So, why didn''t we go in for him? Wages really an issue? I can''t believe that as his fee was low. Did Lambert not want to join the club and stay closer to home? Did he have a chat with Holt who didn''t have kind words regarding our board maybe?! That''s my only concern this transfer window... why did we let him go? I''ve now got the opinion that we''re looking at bigger/better fish - which is why i think we''ll sign someone of significance before the windows closed.[/quote]

 

Lamberts transfer was all about location, we were never in that one.

 

 

[Fakenham Canary 0]

So you are judging us against 3 sides that have had a consecutive longer run than us in the top division, and you don''t know anything about their financial backing or situations, and still can''t, maybe, see the obvious answer?

Fair point Morty that they have had longer runs than us but Swansea [that went up with us] at least could be considered on a very similar pegging in that they only have one season more than us under their belt, have a very small ground and are also stuck out in the ar*e end of nowhere. Yet they dont seem to have had the same problems attracting good players. I couldnt believe they signed Ayew this year and look at Michu, Sigurdsson, Shelvey [not everyone likes him I know], Bony, Gomis, Montero etc etc. So no, I dont know the answer, thats why Im asking you and others to tell me!

[morty 0]

[quote user="Fakenham Canary"]So you are judging us against 3 sides that have had a consecutive longer run than us in the top division, and you don''t know anything about their financial backing or situations, and still can''t, maybe, see the obvious answer?

Fair point Morty that they have had longer runs than us but Swansea [that went up with us] at least could be considered on a very similar pegging in that they only have one season more than us under their belt, have a very small ground and are also stuck out in the ar*e end of nowhere. Yet they dont seem to have had the same problems attracting good players. I couldnt believe they signed Ayew this year and look at Michu, Sigurdsson, Shelvey [not everyone likes him I know], Bony, Gomis, Montero etc etc. So no, I dont know the answer, thats why Im asking you and others to tell me![/quote]If Ricky had scored us ten goals two seasons ago, perhaps we too would be buying players of that stature this season.But in their case, I think they have chosen managers very wisely, and gambled a bit more than us, and it has paid off, especially with Bony.

[Hairy Canary 754]

1. The TV money has not increased. It''s the same amount as the year we went down.

2. The year we went down we spent every penny we possibly could on player wages.

3. The players we had then have now reverted to the same Premiership wages that maxed out our income that year.

4. The only players of note that left after relegation were Pilkington, Fer and Snodgrass

5. Since then we have brought in and are paying Lafferty, Brady, Wisdom, Dorrens and Ofoe. They will now all be on premiership wages and will cost more in wages than the ones that left.

Do the maths. Whilst we keep this squad there is very little money. Shifting out RVW, Lafferty and Turner will release cash to spend but there are no takers who want them enough to pay them what they are on now and they don''t look like they are prepared to take a pay cut just to play. Well at least RVW didn''t for one.

[Fuzzar 1,861]

[quote user="Google Bot"]Lambert had to be the most sensible signing for us to make - if we couldn''t score with him sat up top, i don''t know how else we could. So, why didn''t we go in for him? Wages really an issue? I can''t believe that as his fee was low. Did Lambert not want to join the club and stay closer to home? Did he have a chat with Holt who didn''t have kind words regarding our board maybe?! That''s my only concern this transfer window... why did we let him go? I''ve now got the opinion that we''re looking at bigger/better fish - which is why i think we''ll sign someone of significance before the windows closed.[/quote]

I don''t think Lambert is the sort of striker AN''s looking for. He''s too slow to work the defenders and looked poor last night, albeit against the probable eventual champions. And at well over 30 offers zip in resale value. I wonder how much game time he''ll get ahead of Rondon and Berahino?

Like you, I''m hoping we''re looking at better.

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

Swansea do fine attracting good players, not exactly near London or one of the U K s finer Cities

[Google Bot 3,934]

Swansea have a much different image to us. We need to do something to turn this around and produce players who go on to great things. Brendan Rodgers alone has done so much for the Swans.

What have we got to show in recent times, if we are to be brutally honest?

A manager who went on to be shamed as Villa manager, his assistant being sacked in the process.

Two strikers we''ve destroyed (RvW and Hooper).

Player of the season ended up in Hull''s injury room.

Fer to QPR in a relegation battle.... and lost.

The list makes for great reading if you''re a player! (Sarcasm)

They were some of our most promising assets, and look where their careers are now, on top of that you''ve probably got Grant Holt slagging our board/McNally off to anyone who cares to listen. We really need to shake off our time under Hughton and get this club respected! I don''t think spending a hatful of money achieves that - Youth is as important and we''re doing the right thing there.

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

Would stil be nice to shop at Marks and Spencer''s for special occasions instead of relying on Lidl and Aldi

[morty 0]

If we could free up the money we are shelling out on RvW and Lafferty''s wages, I suspect things could suddenly look a lot different.

[Thetford Yellow 0]

There is clearly something wrong with our recruitment process. In the PL you need a strong squad - we don''t have one. Forget the ref, the Norwich defending on Saturday was as poor as you''ll see anywhere. A blind man could see that the current crop of players wasn''t going to be anywhere good enough for this league yet we''ve spent all summer ''pursuing'' players but - apart from a couple of WBA cast offs - have only managed to land the mightily unimpressive Robbie Brady while others have been stocking up on quality signings. The failure to add quality all over the squad has already cost us 3 points - and if we make the journey to Sunderland without a reinforced defence and the addition of at least one quality forward we are going to get dicked again.

[Google Bot 3,934]

In my opinion you can''t ignore the ref, and you also can''t point the finger solely at our defending. If Grabban scored first the game would''ve been much different, we could concentrate more on our defensive game, rather than continue with our FB''s pushing forwards - which is ultimately where we got caught out and out-numbered for the first goal - our system was unravelled, not individuals per se.

We created enough, and were robbed enough that cost us at least a point, if not all 3. Hand on heart i truly believe that, and Palace will be mid table at least!

Now, i''m not saying we don''t need new signings, but i''m also not going over the top and dismissing our team as nailed on failures, we have players like Whittaker in the starting 11 for what he brings us on a whole, that is an attacking fullback. For me number one is to get a goal scorer in - i could take the defence as is if i could only pick one position to fulfil, we now have an excellent provider in Brady and i hope he proves you wrong calling him unimpressive - for me he''s got excellent delivery and he''s typical roll-your-sleeves-up type.

The shame from this weekend was the ref, not us. People have personal vendetta''s against Whittaker and Martin and will always have the fingers pointing towards them, any idiot can sit in hindsight and point out the most dangerous player in any given scenario based on what they know happens next. If our defence is pulled out of shape, or if a defender is repeatedly exposed, it is the team setup which needs questioning, not the player who is left to pick those pieces up.

I maintain that we already have a great promising squad who have a strong mentality and team ethic, we just need that cherry on top in the form of a clinical forward. Who, from where, and for how much i don''t know though. :-/