Dr. Evil can fuck off.
He's kicking up all this dust but worships money so won't take much for him to do another 180. Spiteful gnome of a man.
Last edited by trinitoon; 23-10-2021 at 04:07 PM.
It's crap, the top 6 might manage it.
But we offer, Saints or Leeds or anybody around there £70 million (for example) for a player that blatently isn't worth that much. . . they'll crack and sell.
Also, should a player get bid and not be allowed, well, do clubs really want to piss their players off - me thinks not. Unhappy players cause issue in the dressing room.
Release clauses as well, not saying we’re ready to sign the next Grealish just yet but I bet there are loads of them inserted in many contracts throughout the league (Demba Ba & Perez spring to mind for us). At the very worst, we are going to force clubs into giving hefty pay rises when we trigger a release claus if they are desperate to keep that particular player.
In all honesty, I'd rather we were recruiting young talent from around the world rather than buying the latest PL star. If we're going to spend loads of money, it'd be good to spend it on building the best academy, training facilities, scouting network, etc. so that there's a long-term sustainable model for success. I think we're all patient enough to wait for this to pay off, though clearly we'll have to bring in some first team players in the immediate future just to stave off the threat of relegation.
If we can build a brand of football that people want to play, we'll be able to nab the best young players out from under the noses of our 'rivals' in the PL.
Good point. FFP cannot limit investment in youth. And if we build a reputation as the best academy around, it would only take 4-5 yrs to pay off big style if we get some decent 17yr olds out the other end.
I’d prefer developing exciting talents allowing us to compete in the future rather than bankrolling a squad of pre-retirement mercenaries.
Of course, we need a mix. But consider what limitless Saudi money could achieve it put towards the medium-term strategy instead of an FFP-limited short-termism. I’d take mid-table mediocrity a couple more years if things are steadily moving in the right direction.
I’m patient enough to wait for us becoming a force in world football instead of another “project”. Thing is though, we need to stay in the PL. And the current squad probably can’t do that.
Last edited by trinitoon; 24-10-2021 at 08:54 AM.
Exactly mate... think about what Wallsend Boys Club has produced over the years on a pittance. Pump some millions into the community to turn our passion for football into an education in it, get schools and sports clubs their coaching badges and get our adults teaching our kids the beautiful game every night. It won't take long before we're creating talent on and off the field on a regular basis, not to mention the social benefits of keeping these kids off the streets and focused on footy.
There's also some really interesting innovation in sports science going on at our local uni's, including some research into the benefits of low light training and a bunch of other crazy ideas that would never have crossed my mind - all about how to get that extra % that makes an ASM a Lionel Messi. All of this could provide better returns than paying Aaron Ramsay £400,000 a week to play 20 games a season.