We will be the richest club in the Championship

[Bradwell canary 109]

With a net spend of around £3-4m in the summer, can''t see the board having enough guts to spend enough to bring in the talent needed to save us.

4 out of 5 years in the PL, and the money involved our bank manager must be a happy guy.

I don''t wish for us to go deep into the red, as so many have chasing the PL dream, but it would give the supporters some hope if more effort in made in Jan than in the summer.

If not it will be very clear that they are not willing to back AN, and will show a total lack of ambition their part.

Perhaps no one has told them about the huge increase in Sky money next year!!

Lets face it, the squad we have is simply not good enough. Most are Championship players at best.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

The huge increase in Sky money next year is a bit misleading-as everyone in the PL will have that money, and if we stay up we will still be in the bottom 3 in terms of spending power. Players values and wages will go up accordingly so it''s all a bit of a false economy.

What was a £6m player this season will be a £9m player next purely because the clubs are richer.

[Bradwell canary 109]

Good point. I guess the players will benefit most in terms of even higher silly wages....as they have before.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

Exactly-the outgoings on players transfer fees and wages will swallow up the increase in tv money so we would no better off in terms of the PL. what it will do is create an ever bigger gulf between the PL and Championship.

[curious yellow 184]

"Championship at best" - so you think we have some Div1 players?

So spending millions on a player automatically makes him good and saves the day?

Let''s worry about something that won''t happen.

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

Surely Chelsea will be richer than us??

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

[quote user="Hairy Kenneth"]Exactly-the outgoings on players transfer fees and wages will swallow up the increase in tv money so we would no better off in terms of the PL. what it will do is create an ever bigger gulf between the PL and Championship.[/quote]Should we not, therefore, be pushing the boat out in January to avoid at all costs becoming marooned on the wrong side of that gulf? Your point about financial relativism is perfectly valid, of course, but I''d rather have the lowest spending power in the Prem than be one of the richest teams in the Championship.

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="Hairy Kenneth"]Exactly-the outgoings on players transfer fees and wages will swallow up the increase in tv money so we would no better off in terms of the PL. what it will do is create an ever bigger gulf between the PL and Championship.[/quote]Should we not, therefore, be pushing the boat out in January to avoid at all costs becoming marooned on the wrong side of that gulf? Your point about financial relativism is perfectly valid, of course, but I''d rather have the lowest spending power in the Prem than be one of the richest teams in the Championship.[/quote]I am not quite sure what you''re suggesting by pushing the boat out. In terms of transfers we are not going to pay £20m or £30m for a player, but then the kind of player who would cost that wouldn''t come to us anyway. We are just not a big enough name. By all accounts we did bid around £10m for at least one player in the summer (possibly Koulibaly), but that fell through, either because he didn''t want to come or his club couldn''t find a replacement in time. I will not be at all surprised if make a bid that equals or even breaks our transfer record next month, and if our overall spending is also a winter record. In that sense I believe we are more than willing, and able, to push the boat out.But not with wages, because that is what kills a club. I would be surprised - and very worried - if we broke our policy of paying financially sustainable wages. According to a Guardian journalist one of the problems that has caused Swansea to freefall is that the squad is now horribly split between loyalist old hands on £30,000 a week and a few big-money signings on £50,000.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="Hairy Kenneth"]Exactly-the outgoings on players transfer fees and wages will swallow up the increase in tv money so we would no better off in terms of the PL. what it will do is create an ever bigger gulf between the PL and Championship.[/quote]Should we not, therefore, be pushing the boat out in January to avoid at all costs becoming marooned on the wrong side of that gulf? Your point about financial relativism is perfectly valid, of course, but I''d rather have the lowest spending power in the Prem than be one of the richest teams in the Championship.[/quote]I am not quite sure what you''re suggesting by pushing the boat out. In terms of transfers we are not going to pay £20m or £30m for a player, but then the kind of player who would cost that wouldn''t come to us anyway. We are just not a big enough name. By all accounts we did bid around £10m for at least one player in the summer (possibly Koulibaly), but that fell through, either because he didn''t want to come or his club couldn''t find a replacement in time. I will not be at all surprised if make a bid that equals or even breaks our transfer record next month, and if our overall spending is also a winter record. In that sense I believe we are more than willing, and able, to push the boat out.But not with wages, because that is what kills a club. I would be surprised - and very worried - if we broke our policy of paying financially sustainable wages. According to a Guardian journalist one of the problems that has caused Swansea to freefall is that the squad is now horribly split between loyalist old hands on £30,000 a week and a few big-money signings on £50,000.[/quote]I''m perfectly mindful of the wages issue, Purple, and we absolutely mustn''t smash that structure wide open. But, in your opinion, if we stay up this season would that be the time to reappraise the structure? Or under our current owners are we destined to be the smallest spenders in the top flight for all eternity? It raises interesting questions about how far the EPL''s financial bubble can expand before it bursts, and whether we are essentially happy to budget for being a sustainable Championship club where anything else is a bonus.But in direct response to your question, what I''m suggesting by ''pushing the boat out'' is a centre back and a centre forward, both of whom are comfortably better than anything we have available to us at the moment. This should be achievable for a maximum outlay of £20m for the pair, but it''s finding players who don''t expect the salary of a club with mega-rich owners that could be the stumbling block. In any case, substantially more than the £3m net spend we made in the summer, and I would expect our budget to be further bolstered by the removal of one or two from the wage bill (no one will buy RvW, but any one – or even two – of Lafferty, Hooper, Grabban and Jerome could be shipped out to fund the real quality purchases we need to see us over the line).

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Feedthewolf"][quote user="Hairy Kenneth"]Exactly-the outgoings on players transfer fees and wages will swallow up the increase in tv money so we would no better off in terms of the PL. what it will do is create an ever bigger gulf between the PL and Championship.[/quote]Should we not, therefore, be pushing the boat out in January to avoid at all costs becoming marooned on the wrong side of that gulf? Your point about financial relativism is perfectly valid, of course, but I''d rather have the lowest spending power in the Prem than be one of the richest teams in the Championship.[/quote]I am not quite sure what you''re suggesting by pushing the boat out. In terms of transfers we are not going to pay £20m or £30m for a player, but then the kind of player who would cost that wouldn''t come to us anyway. We are just not a big enough name. By all accounts we did bid around £10m for at least one player in the summer (possibly Koulibaly), but that fell through, either because he didn''t want to come or his club couldn''t find a replacement in time. I will not be at all surprised if make a bid that equals or even breaks our transfer record next month, and if our overall spending is also a winter record. In that sense I believe we are more than willing, and able, to push the boat out.But not with wages, because that is what kills a club. I would be surprised - and very worried - if we broke our policy of paying financially sustainable wages. According to a Guardian journalist one of the problems that has caused Swansea to freefall is that the squad is now horribly split between loyalist old hands on £30,000 a week and a few big-money signings on £50,000.[/quote]I''m perfectly mindful of the wages issue, Purple, and we absolutely mustn''t smash that structure wide open.1) But, in your opinion, if we stay up this season would that be the time to reappraise the structure? 2) Or under our current owners are we destined to be the smallest spenders in the top flight for all eternity? It raises interesting questions about how far the EPL''s financial bubble can expand before it bursts, and whether we are essentially happy to budget for being a sustainable Championship club where anything else is a bonus.But in direct response to your question, 3) what I''m suggesting by ''pushing the boat out'' is a centre back and a centre forward, both of whom are comfortably better than anything we have available to us at the moment. This should be achievable for a maximum outlay of £20m for the pair, but it''s finding players who don''t expect the salary of a club with mega-rich owners that could be the stumbling block. In any case, substantially more than the £3m net spend we made in the summer, and I would expect our budget to be further bolstered by the removal of one or two from the wage bill (no one will buy RvW, but any one – or even two – of Lafferty, Hooper, Grabban and Jerome could be shipped out to fund the real quality purchases we need to see us over the line).[/quote]FtW. Answers as follows:1) No. Certainly not a serious reappraisal, unless we get major investment above the TV money.2) Yes, I an afraid!3) I think those should be (and almost certainly are) the main targets. I am not sure about £20m - perhaps more £15m as a maximum outlay. I believe the board is willing to pay that kind of money. The problem, as ever, will be convincing the players to come.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

Thank you, Purple. I have dispensed with the alarmingly long ''threadworm'' that was developing, but I appreciate your responses. So sell Grabban or Jerome (preferably Grabban) to a hungry Championship club for a minimum of £5m, and there''s your £15m net spend. One can only hope that the new gaps in our board of directors may be filled by someone (or ones) with a significant amount of collateral to aid our cause. Much as I''d never want us to be a perennial ''FFP-botherer'' like QPR, that extra investment could make a world of difference for many years to come...

[nutty nigel 7,506]

Does anyone know that our supposedly tight wage structure is preventing us from signing players? I have heard we pay competitively compared to other similar clubs. So is this yet another myth like the board refusing to back the manager myth?

As my buddy Lapp has said what we do know is that Norwich City will not buy a player without a relegation clause in their contract. So could this be a hindrance? And would people advocate we do away with that clause?

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Does anyone know that our supposedly tight wage structure is preventing us from signing players? I have heard we pay competitively compared to other similar clubs. So is this yet another myth like the board refusing to back the manager myth?

As my buddy Lapp has said what we do know is that Norwich City will not buy a player without a relegation clause in their contract. So could this be a hindrance? And would people advocate we do away with that clause?[/quote]Nutty, the last time we were in the Premier League we were 17th in the wages league table. Unless that has changed then generally we should still be competitive compared with our obvious rivals. What may prevent us signing some high-profile players is probably a combination of lowish wages, our seemingly yo-yo status and provincial unfashionability.

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="Bradwell canary"]With a net spend of around £3-4m in the summer, can''t see the board having enough guts to spend enough to bring in the talent needed to save us.

4 out of 5 years in the PL, and the money involved our bank manager must be a happy guy.

I don''t wish for us to go deep into the red, as so many have chasing the PL dream, but it would give the supporters some hope if more effort in made in Jan than in the summer.

If not it will be very clear that they are not willing to back AN, and will show a total lack of ambition their part.

Perhaps no one has told them about the huge increase in Sky money next year!!

Lets face it, the squad we have is simply not good enough. Most are Championship players at best.[/quote]This figure (like the £120m) is a bit of an illusion. I don''t believe it includes how ever many millions we paid for Dorrans, because that came before the end of the financial year, and the £3.5m figure at issue seems to be only for post-balance-sheet dealings.It doesn''t take account of the fact that we acquired Mulumbu (who would also have cost in the millions) for nothing, because he was out of contract.Nor that we have only paid for a year of Mbokani''s worth, as he is on a season-long loan. The same applies to Jarvis and Wisdom.  Permanent deals for any or all of those would also set us back millions, particularly if Mbokani was involved.Finally in addition to the £3.5m we are committed to paying out up to £9.4m more for those summer deals depending on how we do - presumably depending on whether we stay up or not.

[ellis206 0]

[quote user="Bradwell canary"]With a net spend of around £3-4m in the summer, can''t see the board having enough guts to spend enough to bring in the talent needed to save us.

4 out of 5 years in the PL, and the money involved our bank manager must be a happy guy.

I don''t wish for us to go deep into the red, as so many have chasing the PL dream, but it would give the supporters some hope if more effort in made in Jan than in the summer.

If not it will be very clear that they are not willing to back AN, and will show a total lack of ambition their part.

Perhaps no one has told them about the huge increase in Sky money next year!!

Lets face it, the squad we have is simply not good enough. Most are Championship players at best.[/quote]This is awkward

[Katie Borkins 1]

Bradwell Canary has a distinctive whiff about him or her.

See other threads for examples.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

But didn''t we bring in Ed Balls so that we could try to live beyond our means?