Lai

[wba13]

Don’t be so quick to run us down looks like midfielder Jason Molumby box to box midfielder on loan from Brighton.
We are also looking at another striker but may not be available until January and Ismael happy to wait for right player.
Why can’t fans wait till widow closed before having ago.

[baggieal]

Don’t be so quick to run us down looks like midfielder Jason Molumby box to box midfielder on loan from Brighton.
We are also looking at another striker but may not be available until January and Ismael happy to wait for right player.
Why can’t fans wait till widow closed before having ago.

My expectation even with this squad - we should be promoted especially with a dynamic manager but there needs to be strength in depth!

[wba13]

Well Molumbysigned on a loan to buy. Official

[baggiematt]

I'm no expert of PLC's but my understanding has always been that if Lai was taking money out of the club, it would be reported and minor shareholders would also have the benefit of the dividend. There's no noise coming from the club that he's secretly bleeding us dry and asset stripping - just the fear of it from fans.

The difficulty in the modern market is that money brought into the club isn't always used the same season and can be spread out. If we got £17 mill for Perreira, it's unreasonable to think we would want to pay out £17 million on replacements. If we have a way of paying for temporary replacements, that would usually be the most risk free tactic for the club as if they're crap, we aren't lumbered with the wages on a 4-5 year deal, like with Zohore. You have to shred the wage bill after 2 seasons in the championship so there is often reluctance to buy rather than loan.

[Yarmbaggie]

I am a supporter for 60 + years…I go to the matches (1st one 1961) so I therefore consider myself to be more than a WBA ‘well wisher’. The apparent absence of investment from Lai is very frustrating and disappointing.

However, this guy owns the business and accordingly will choose his own strategy to generate a yield, potential on-sale profit and self esteem/ kudos in being a Chinese owner of a now, potential Premier League club. Given last season, there will be some damage mitigation considerations alongside the unlimited raft of player investment opportunities.

He will be relying on his new executive in this regard, but I’m not surprised he is exceptionally cautious given some of the player acquisition calamities to date.

I’m hoping we make top 6 and en route have an enjoyable season. Promotion may indeed create the opportunity for Lai to exit without too much loss.

It is very difficult to get a handle on what investment Lai has made since he paid well over the odds in July 2016. He has stated that he expects the club to be run within its means so in that respect he won’t ever be making an investment, I.e. NEW money on top of the money he paid for the club.

It is difficult to find out how much he has sanctioned from income to be spent on new players, and even then it excludes agents fees, add ons and increased salary costs.

However, having trawled the pages of Transfermarket.co.uk since he purchased the club until the end of last season we have spent £153.3 million on new players and receive in £92.8 million that is a net spend of £60.5 million. Of course that doesn’t include the £16.2 million or so we are due to get from the sale of Pereira.

I tried to list all the moves in and out above £1 million but got timed out!!

FOL.

[DaveP67 is back!]

I honestly don't think having a sugar daddy owner is a good thing long term as the bubble will burst at some point, what I do expect tho is an owner that has trust an affinity with the club and acts as a true custodian! I don’t think we have any of that with Lai.
FOL

[WBA1955]

I might be on my own here but I think we are doing things the right way. We could spend a fortune on player's with no guarantee of going up, that would leave us f ucked for next season.
We have a squad that is more than capable of getting us up, if we don't go up this season we will still be in a strong position for next season.
However much we spend we are only likely to sign championship standard player's.
Ken told Val he has a long term plan, I think it was to get us up on a shoestring, that was the reason we paid compo to Barnsley when we could have had Wilder for free.
Hopefully we have a buyer in place who will takeover when we are premier league?
Well, I have always been an optimist.

[wbaliquidator]

I don’t have a problem with free transfers or loans, it make sense especially with our record in recent years. Mind you most fans of all clubs will no doubt criticise their recruitment policy.
My issue is that we are really short on numbers and noises coming from Val indicated that any incomings had to be balanced with outgoings.
The language in the last 24 Hours has changed and indeed we have now signed another which is excellent news. There is also talk of another striker, phew thank goodness!
I guess as fans we are inpatient and were getting a little concerned with the deadline quickly approaching. If you listen the other fans there are much the same as us.
However there are still questions to be asked about out club finances. Indeed even the actual ownership question has not been addresses has it? Then there are other potential anomalies with transfers and such like.
The Chinese are secretive by nature and I doubt if we will have any sort of transparency while Chairman Lai is the owner, or at least calling the shots