Has a promoted side ever spent less?

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

By my calculations we are actually in profit and have therefore spent nothing. How can that be anything but a complete and utter lack of ambition?

The board has risked NOTHING and so, I hate to say it, but we don''t deserve to stay up. The gift horse has been looked in the face

And before the clappers claim this wasn''t said when we win- I have been banging on about it all season. Hopeless way to grab the chance of being premier league.

[CJ 1]

You are not alone, is there any other Premier League side with effectively no CB cover from start of season.

I hate to say this but AN is beginning to look way out of his depth , which I suspect the board like . Any other manager would have demanded big signings by now or gone public with being unhappy.

It is all now beginning to look too little too late.

Who would want to a club that is being thrashed so easily by a poor opposition.

[MyGodWeArePoorToWatch 0]

Season after season then same crap.

As long as we make a plus on pissaverage players, thats all that matters.

Gutted.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Dean Coneys boots"]By my calculations we are actually in profit and have therefore spent nothing. How can that be anything but a complete and utter lack of ambition?

The board has risked NOTHING and so, I hate to say it, but we don''t deserve to stay up. The gift horse has been looked in the face

And before the clappers claim this wasn''t said when we win- I have been banging on about it all season. Hopeless way to grab the chance of being premier league.[/quote]Oh, and the transfer window has shut now?

[grefstad 0]

No, Morty, the window is not shut. But by not spending in the summer, especially on defenders, the board has effectively given AN 50% less chance of staying up.

Bringing in defenders now will not make up for the silly points lost by defensive feckups in Aug-Jan.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

Pretty sure the transfer window is still open. Optimistic for early next week where we will spend plenty of money.

[morty 0]

[quote user="grefstad"]No, Morty, the window is not shut. But by not spending in the summer, especially on defenders, the board has effectively given AN 50% less chance of staying up.

Bringing in defenders now will not make up for the silly points lost by defensive feckups in Aug-Jan.[/quote]What is your source for this stat?

[grefstad 0]

Half season gone without improving defence.

Will be (slightly less than) half season with defensive changes.

[morty 0]

[quote user="grefstad"]Half season gone without improving defence.

Will be (slightly less than) half season with defensive changes.[/quote]But if they are improvements, which they should be, then we should win more points in the second half of the season, than we did the first?Which by my reckoning, even if we don''t improve, would put us on 46 points...

[grefstad 0]

True, but such sensible calculations remove my reasons to moan...

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="grefstad"]Half season gone without improving defence.

Will be (slightly less than) half season with defensive changes.[/quote]But if they are improvements, which they should be, then we should win more points in the second half of the season, than we did the first?Which by my reckoning, even if we don''t improve, would put us on 46 points...[/quote]What is your source for this stat, please?Oh yeah, sorry, basic maths.

[JF 694]

I fail to see how anyone can be optimistic that we will land our targets with our boards track record

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

Even if we sign two players at 8 million we will be breaking even. Pathetic and too little, too late.

Like the last two attempts in the prem; the frustration is that we don''t need much to be more competitive

[eddie1 1]

We''ve almost got Naismith for around 9 million and klose looks to be on for around the same that''s almost 20 million with pinto aswell and we prob still looking for strikers . Let''s save these posts till the window is closed shall we

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Of recent memory Blackpool and Burnley had lower outgoing on playing staff when they were each promoted to the PL.

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="Dean Coneys boots"]Even if we sign two players at 8 million we will be breaking even.[/quote]I can''t give you any points for that answer until I''ve seen your workings. Did you write anything down in the margin to explain how you arrived at this figure?No?Oh, sorry then.FAIL

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

But I was making the point in August....that is the point. We failed miserably then and suffered people saying "let''s we shall we"

But all we do is sign other teams reserves - if at all.

[Essjayess 307]

Actually yes, there are a number of clubs who, like us, are in truth a team in no mans land, that straddle an invisible league  in between the Premier and Championship. Some, like Burnley and Hull, like us, came  to the Prem and did not spend much at all. Others, like QPR, spent bucketloads, but still inhabit the same space as ourselves. Historically, ever since Ron Saunders took us up to the top division in 71-72, we have been in this position. Its best to say we are top six of the Championship and bottom six of the Prem. Of course we had a good blip couple of decades ago or more, spending 8 or so seasons  in the Prem continous, and the one bad blip 6 or 7 yrs ago to League 1.More and more teams, like Bournemouth are finding rich sugar daddy backers. but plain fact is theres only 20 slots in the Premier, meaning more and more clubs even with rich backers will not find a regular home in the Prem. It will constantly become harder to get into the Prem, so please do not wish for City to spend big as you see other Prem teams spend big, we have to live within our means. Our club has in truth punched above their weight so often, far more than our neighbours down the road for example. I hear so often from others that City dont push the boat out as regards buying players etc, its nonsense, we push the boat out as far as it will go, without it sinking.

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="Dean Coneys boots"]But I was making the point in August....that is the point. We failed miserably then and suffered people saying "let''s we shall we"

But all we do is sign other teams reserves - if at all.[/quote]I think pretty much everyone accepted we needed a new centre back in August, and it raised a lot of eyebrows when we didn''t get one. The transfer window is still open for more than two weeks. Whether we sign one or not, let''s wait and see where we end up before we start pointing the finger. If we are to be relegated this season, I expect the fingers will be roundly aimed at the board and not at Alex Neil.

[Guest]

Still two weeks of this transfer window left.  So best not to confuse today''s frustration with other matters.There are positive signs in the shape of Klose and Naismith - although nothing is yet confirmed.  I still think the club will also be targeting a goal-scorer.If the club fails to make the appropriate additions by the end of January then questions can be asked.Who knows, maybe our existing squad will pull their socks up and get the job done themselves.

[Essjayess 307]

Think we have a proven goalscorer coming home tomorrow whos loan out has got him fit and scoring for fun again, but he needs Alex to change the formation  and get our team motivated again to help him score the goals. Whats that i hear?...he only scored coz it was the Championship?,,,oh yea...just like Afobe then hmm?

[MyGodWeArePoorToWatch 0]

Loving the Happy clappers saying how much time we still have.

But how many lost POINTS between then and now ?

Yeah. Though so.

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="Essjayess"]Think we have a proven goalscorer coming home tomorrow whos loan out has got him fit and scoring for fun again, but he needs Alex to change the formation  and get our team motivated again to help him score the goals. Whats that i hear?...he only scored coz it was the Championship?,,,oh yea...just like Afobe then hmm?[/quote]Jaemae, get over here!

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,223]

What you have to do here is separate "not spending" from "not being able to spend". We have clearly been trying to buy players both during the summer and in this transfer window but the players we are after either do not want to come here or turn out to be unaffordable. What I would not want to happen is for us just to buy for the sake of it, we clearly need to improve on the squad we have, and we need to get a bit of quality in. I am hoping that the sale of Grabban (and maybe others) and the real possibility of relegation will be the catalyst for two or three quality signings........

[MyGodWeArePoorToWatch 0]

Strwnge how EVERY other team seem to be able to get players.

I think you will find the board is cheap on negotiations, and wages.

And thats why we end up with has beens and dregs 9 times out of 10.

[Theres only one Martin Peters! 0]

The Board (or should I say the owners) are clearly not backing the Manager, there are obviously considerable funds available to spend on players but the Board seem too scared of spending big because they think we will probably get relegated. What sort of message is that sending to everyone?

[grefstad 0]

[quote user="MyGodWeArePoorToWatch"]Strwnge how EVERY other team seem to be able to get players.

I think you will find the board is cheap on negotiations, and wages.

And thats why we end up with has beens and dregs 9 times out of 10.[/quote]

This.is.correct

[A Load of Squit 6,260]

[quote user="grefstad"][quote user="MyGodWeArePoorToWatch"]Strwnge how EVERY other team seem to be able to get players.

I think you will find the board is cheap on negotiations, and wages.

And thats why we end up with has beens and dregs 9 times out of 10.[/quote]

This.is.correct[/quote]No.it.isn''t

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="Theres only one Martin Peters"]The Board (or should I say the owners) are clearly not backing the Manager, there are obviously considerable funds available to spend on players but the Board seem too scared of spending big because they think we will probably get relegated.[/quote]Naismith and Klose, if signed, would cost about £15m. For a club of our stature, that''s a reasonable outlay. Can we not just wait until the window closes before we make these sweeping judgements?

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

We cannot compete with wages offered by any team other than maybe Watford. It''s not a matter of the board being cheap-we are not bankrolled by billionaires.

That''s the reality.