Quote Originally Posted by 9goals2hattricks3pen View Post
Coventry City (and many others around us in the table) show what can be achieved in The Championship without spending a 'fortune.' Their squad value is about a third of ours and so is their wage bill. We have numerous bench warmers earning more than their top earner. I would love to see us recruit well from the lower leagues (Townsend anyone) hungry ambitious players.

This of course only works if we recruit well. I see our recruitment and the team responsible as a bigger problem than either lack of investment or the ability manager.
I completely agree with this. Look at a team like Brentford and what they have achieved with good recruitment. They've followed a very statistical route to sign their players and they have bought low, and sold high.

Scott Hogan - Cost £750k, sold for £15m
Benrahma - Cost £2.7m, sold for £28m
Maupay - Cost £1.6m, sold for £20m
Watkins - Cost £1.8m, sold for £30m
Ivan Toney - Cost £9m, worth how much??

Meanwhile, we bought Burke for £15m. We were linked with Toney, but many thought it was a gamble paying £9m for a player who had never played above League One before. How we could do with a player like him now.

Recruitment needs to be improved massively if we are to go forward as a club. And as fans we have to understand that when a high offer comes in for a player, it is sometimes in our interest to sell. We have consistently got that wrong. Evans we could have sold for £25m+, we got £3m. Berahino we could have sold for £23m, we got £10m.

We are never going to be able to hold onto our best players, so why not try and polish some younger gems from the lower and foreign leagues and sell them on for a profit, reinvesting it into other players to do the same. Whilst meanwhile getting results on the pitch. The only way their price increases is by performing well on the pitch. It's in both the clubs interest and the players.