Are we offering enough wages?

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Normally my undies are bone dry but after some intially promising sounding moves for players some of our mooted transfers are going a bit quiet.

 

Before Olsson signed, I saw a couple of reports saying that he was coming to "thrash out terms" (possibly journalese for not being overimpressed with the wages on offer).

 

Maybe Toivonen is the same, and feels that he''d be better offer staying put and signing a new contract with PSV rather than getting out of bed for our measly pay packet.

 

Quite what''s happened to Fer is anyone''s guess. Maybe everthing''s hunky dory, or perhaps he''s realised he won''t be able to buy so many horses as he could in Holland.

 

And Alderwiereld now seems to be playing a waiting game, reportedly saying he''s not even sure he wants to leave Ajax.

 

So is a pattern emerging of a player initially being interested, coming over for talks, going back and then deciding against it? Is it because we are wanting to spend big on transfers but not enough on wages to get the players we are targeting? Or am I just being naive, and the players concerned would have known what was on offer way in advance?

 

No doubt I''ll look very stupid later today when Fer puts pen to paper ...

[birchfest 397]

I think we are still sticking to a business model that sees us offer a competitive rate amongst that mid block of teams. What''s make it harder is we are going for the next level of players how may be hesitant at not joining an Everton or Fulham who they probably have more knowledge of.

[Mervmeister 18]

I think the one thing with Norwich City FC is that it is run very well. We certainly wouldn''t want to jeopardise our financial position. Also I don''t think we are the sort of club to risk upsetting other players by offering wages treble that of other squad players etc.

If these players are only wanting to come for a big pay day and not to give there all in Norwich then Don''t think we should be interested any way, that''s what happened to QPR.

[crabbycanary 2]

There has to be a balance of wages/ fee/ funds that Norwich have/ etc

If a player is not signing purely because of the wages, then questions need to be asked of the player more than the Club I feel. Our CEO is a canny operator and knows the market forces.

[city-till-i-die 7]

This ^^^^^^

[Number 9 0]

Quite simply put, WE DON''T KNOW WHAT WAGES ARE OFFERED AND HOW THESE COMPARE WITH SIMILAR CLUBS.

Sorry to shout but this is pure conjecture, have a little faith in McNally and Hughton, it''s only 12th July for goodness sake.

[lake district canary 4,531]

I think it proves we are going for players who want to play for the club rather than just coming to make money.   I am sure we are offering good wages, but if players are looking to screw as much as possible in wages then we are probably better off letting them go to a club that can offer them the silly money they are after.    Now I know people say of course they will try to get as much money as possible, but there are two reasons to move to a football club - the football and the money.     We need to attract the kind of players who can fit in the team ethos and we won''t get that by buying players who are just out to make a fast buck and not really interested that much in the club they are going to. 

I think our club is unique in  the premiership.   We  are pretty much debt free, don''t have a money is no object wealthy benefactor, have a good team ethos and a good footballing set up.  That is of value in itself and players that recognise that will realize that even if we are offering slightly less than other clubs in wages, the reasons to move here are sound ones.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

LDC, i wouldn''t call us unique, us and Swansea and they''ve spent an estimated £30m already!

[Lets be aving you! 0]

"I think our club is unique in the premiership. We are pretty much debt free, don''t have a money is no object wealthy benefactor, have a good team ethos and a good footballing set up. That is of value in itself and players that recognise that will realize that even if we are offering slightly less than other clubs in wages, the reasons to move here are sound ones."

 

No, not unique. West Brom have no debt and no wealthy benefactor.

 

Their "model" is apparently to pay a lot more in wages than us (e.g. Shane Long, Jonas Olsson allegedly on 40k+), but to spend less on transfer fees (they were apparently initially interested in Hughton to replace Hodgson but baulked at paying the compo that Birmingham wanted for Hughton & co).

 

They have also spent big on loans (Lukaku) and are supposed to be paying free-transfer signing Anelka 5 million over 2 years (that''s 50 k/week). Not that I think the Anelka deal is good value, because he''s getting on now in age.

 

West Brom have also been interested in Toivonen. It might be interesting if the Swede ended up going there.

 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

I don''t think it is so much a wages issue, the players we have been linked with (Toivonen and Alderweireld particulary) are at massive clubs in Holland and in the Champions League. Look at the games Alderweireld was involved in with Ajax last season for example - it would be a big call to give up those kinds of matches to come to Norwich, a team that has no chance of playing Dortmund or Real Madrid.

 

There is no doubt Norwich can match, if not smash the kinds of wages these players are currently on due to the bounty from Sky, but much to the contary of public perceptions not all players are primarily driven by money.

 

The fact Norwich could bring in RvW shows that they are prepared to pay the wages when it is needed (and Olsson was on a considerable deal at Blackburn as well), but sometimes money isn''t enough. There is also the risk for players that moving to a team in the Premier League means it can be incredibly hard to switch back to a continental team. If Alderweireld signed for Norwich and was excellent for a season or two, catching the interest of several teams in Germany or Italy, realistically only the very largest teams (6 or 7 in total) would have the financial clout to tempt Norwich to sell.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

That''s really interesting, Bethnal. I''d never considered the difficulty of getting back to a continental club as a factor.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

I hope they are driving a hard bargain on wages.I''d much rather that than go by the QPR model.

[Crispy 4]

Just because a player turns someone down based on wages doesn''t mean he''s not the right type of player is a stupid Myth.

People know their worth and will strive to get the best deal they can in all walks of life.

These players don''t owe us anything, we have to pay the market value for these players otherwise they won''t come, we are not a Charity.

[Stig 0]

We can''t cut costs for quality, if we don''t offer the players the wages someone else will. It''s that simple.