Transfer Deadline Day Thread

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Donkey Toon
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Donkey Toon » Fri Sep 03, 2021 6:14 pm

I can't understand why everybody seems surprised by this. It is a no-brainer that the covid shutdown will have hit club finances. Outside of the PL the british clubs are considered to be in a full recession and only the mega-rich have had any cash to spend. Why does anybody think losing pretty much a full seasons worth of match day revenue wouldn't affect us?

I was surprised we were even able to stump up the cash for Willock, but it being paid in deferments answers my own question re that.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:52 pm

Nobody is surprised that we’ve now got a weaker squad than last season.

Palace, Leeds and Brentford all had a higher net spend than us this summer…they were hit by Covid too yet had some money to spend. One of them was only promoted this summer, and Leeds the summer before. Neither of those had been in the PL for 16 years (Leeds) or for 75 years (Brentford) but still found more money to improve the squad.

Yes, match day revenue was hit, but we’ve been in the PL with huge tv money for what, 8 of the last 10 seasons? What’s our net spend in that time…not a lot I’d imagine and we all know the money isn’t spend on infrastructure or academy improvements.

Nobody is surprised that we didn’t spend much or improve the squad. But Covid is just a convenient excuse. It was the same before Covid and it’ll be the same after covid.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Donkey Toon » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:12 pm

Like I keep saying when fans object to the club's spending by comparing it to other clubs that spend more, it is an assumption that just because they spend more that they could afford to spend it. Ashley runs a tight ship and doesn't like to gamble by overspending, that is not new.

Brentford have the usual advantage that newly promoted teams have, a guaranteed PL income for the next season, combined with a squad on championship wages, meaning they have an immediate one off budgetary cash boost. It is fairly common for newly promoted teams to spend a bit more than established bottom half teams. Norwich and West Brom generally don't, which possibly explains why they keep yo-yo-ing.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:48 pm

Yes, but the fans frustration is the long term neglect of the club. At the moment they’re venting about the summer transfer window just gone, but that’s just the most recent thing in a prolonged and wider frustration which is completely understandable. I don’t think anyone seriously thinks we didn’t have a spare few million for a loan signing or two in today’s game. Something like 10 players left the club this summer and two came in, it’s absurd to think there isn’t a little bit of money there.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Donkey Toon » Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:06 pm

I think there is a general sense of caution at the moment about spending. Covid is hanging on longer than I think anybody initially expected, and with new variants and concerns about whether vaccines will cope or keep up with them, there are concerns that shutdowns may become a recurring event with the financial hits that come with it. The Manchesters and PSG's of this world aside virtually no teams have spent heavily this window. All clubs may be gearing up for, and downwardly adjusting transfer and salary budgets accordingly, for an ongoing reduction in annual revenue, certainly in the short term.

There are too many unknowns about the financial cost of last year's covid hit to, in my opinion, be too judgemental about any decisions taken over this windows spending.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:12 pm

For me, our summer transfer business isn’t really out of the norm for what we’d expect even without Covid. There seems to be a culture at the club director level that just because we finished 12/13th or whatever last season that nothing is needed. We’ve gone backwards by doing nothing. The other “weak” teams have done business, and the whipping boys of wba, Fulham and Sheffield United are now gone.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by UlversToon » Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:23 am

Although I was disappointed in our activity in the summer transfer window I was not surprised but what did surprise me is that the club felt the need to issue this statement, which probably came as a surprise to Steve Bruce as well.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:27 am

For all his many faults, Bruce was totally hamstrung by the club. Though he would have known that would be the case when he took the job.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by UlversToon » Sat Sep 04, 2021 9:24 am

Next the club will issue a statement in which they explain the tactics employed by the coaching staff in their attempt to ensure Premiership survival.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Captain Obvious » Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:27 am

The decision not to sign Choudhury, a player who wanted to come, who would start week in week out in the heart of midfield and at a time when we will now be registering 4 fecking goalkeepers and are one of the favourites to get relegated, is at best peculiar and at worst inexcusable. Bloke is combative and pacy and would have improved our first team no end.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Don Sholeone » Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:18 pm

It's an absolute disgrace, plenty of loan options and we refused to even do that. If the club cannot "afford" loan fees then relegation is a certainty imo and there won't be any bounce back on this occasion, we need a new owner or the club is as good as dead.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Sun Sep 05, 2021 3:22 pm

I’m not sure about no bounce back, I think people still overate how good the championship is. It’s competitive but quality isn’t really all that, look at wba and Fulham - straight back to winning week in week out.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by UlversToon » Sun Sep 05, 2021 5:54 pm

Sunderland probably thought they would bounce straight back as well yet they're now in their third season in League 2, granted in unusual circumstances with the pandemic but, nevertheless had two relegations in succession.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:37 pm

UlversToon wrote:
Sun Sep 05, 2021 5:54 pm
Sunderland probably thought they would bounce straight back as well yet they're now in their third season in League 2, granted in unusual circumstances with the pandemic but, nevertheless had two relegations in succession.
I don’t think the way the two clubs are / were run is comparable. We might completely lack any form of ambition, but Ashley isn’t putting the club at risk of oblivion as happened at Sunderland.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Colly » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:59 pm

He's also shown that he's prepared to hoy in the minimal expense needed to be comfortable in the Championship, so while not impossible you'd always vaguely fancy us to bounce back.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Remember Colo » Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:24 pm

Bodacious Benny wrote:
Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:48 pm
Yes, but the fans frustration is the long term neglect of the club. At the moment they’re venting about the summer transfer window just gone, but that’s just the most recent thing in a prolonged and wider frustration which is completely understandable. I don’t think anyone seriously thinks we didn’t have a spare few million for a loan signing or two in today’s game. Something like 10 players left the club this summer and two came in, it’s absurd to think there isn’t a little bit of money there.
We're talking two different things though. I think we all agree, incluing Donkey Toon that we needed further improvements and they're again risking relegation by now making those improvements. But, I don't think they're lying with that statement. I've no doubt if they want to keep breaking even they couldn't spend more - the key thing being that other clubs don't hold themselves to that standard. And if they continue not wanting to dig into the pockets for more debt we'll continue having disappointing transfer windows, because only with operating debt can a club compete for transfers nowadays.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:36 pm

The “not at the expense of ambition” part was clearly a complete fabrication.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Remember Colo » Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:01 pm

Bodacious Benny wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:36 pm
The “not at the expense of ambition” part was clearly a complete fabrication.
True, that line rings super hollow. Not that they've ever demonstrated ambition anyway. They hardly seem to know the meaning of the word.

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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Bodacious Benny » Tue Sep 07, 2021 4:06 pm

Remember Colo wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:01 pm
Bodacious Benny wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:36 pm
The “not at the expense of ambition” part was clearly a complete fabrication.
True, that line rings super hollow. Not that they've ever demonstrated ambition anyway. They hardly seem to know the meaning of the word.
Suspect it'll be the usual approach of see how it goes / chance it until January and if it looks like we're in real danger of relegation then bring someone in.
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Re: Transfer Deadline Day Thread

Post by Remember Colo » Tue Sep 07, 2021 4:21 pm

Bodacious Benny wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 4:06 pm
Remember Colo wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 3:01 pm

True, that line rings super hollow. Not that they've ever demonstrated ambition anyway. They hardly seem to know the meaning of the word.
Suspect it'll be the usual approach of see how it goes / chance it until January and if it looks like we're in real danger of relegation then bring someone in.
You just know the front office decision makers wrongly believe the late season form is a sign the team is good enough to finish there again this season. Happens every year - risk relegation for most of the season, scrape out some good form down the stretch to avoid relegation, and then Ashley and co. believe they can get by making small improvements. Rinse and repeat.

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