Prince Abdullah

[dazzlingblade]

Over the last 5 years, approximately 180 million spent on fees and around 50m received, I'd be amazed if any other club around our size has a bigger net spend over that period, and certainly not any club that has spent a couple of those years on championship income

Managers have been backed, unfortunately it hasn't been spent well

 

[Champagneblade]

Slept off some of the disappointment, so I am starting to conjure a whiff of optimism.

Chatting amongst fans before & during the game yesterday coupled with the posts on here, the majority of fans are realising that PA cannot financially sustain a Championship club, let alone a PL one.
Aside from the social media channels (who he graces with his presence in exchange for an unchallenged appearance to voice his 'strategic thinking'), the tension is beginning to get directed his way.

So while there are no positives with regards to the footballing matters this season, at least as a fanbase we can see that between Heck & Wilder they've had to contend with the symptoms of an owner that has a limited ceiling & an ambivalent attitude towards the footballing matters at our club. I'd go as far to say that the success of the CW/AK & PH/SMc/JL tenures has been in spite of our ownership, not because of it. Credit also should go to the academy staff.

So the slight optimism I'm clutching to is that, as a fanbase, we're now questioning the root cause of our routine humiliation this season, and sooner or later we'll be wanting satisfactory answers/actions...

I’m still searching for the whiff of optimism in there!

 

[Champagneblade]

This season is on PA and the board. They didn’t make us competitive and prioritised cutting debts instead.

That being said, PA can’t help not having enough money. However, he can control his asking price, which he needs to lower iand move on.

There seemed to be an obsession with buying everything at an age where there may be a resale value rather than having any coherence with the management regarding team building.

Prime example is Archer and Ndiaye.

Ndiaye, as much as I thought he did ok as a ‘9’ in the 2021/22 season, his role in the team last year was as a ‘10’ who could drop back into midfield.

Ironically this probably would have suited us coming up a level as it would have protected the midfield more when out of possession.

Players who would fulfil attacking midfield/forward role would have been: Joel Piroe, Chupa Akpom, Malik Tillman, Zian Flemming, Fabio Carvalho, Ilias Chair, Sammie Szmodics. A few of those were gettable at points in time during the summer.

In committing to Archer we completely removed the link between midfield and attack. In fact, there is an argument we would have been better asking McAtee to perform that role had all the above failed, and reinforce the midfield.

Also, instead of playing a flat 3 there would have been some logic in going for two proper defensive midfielders, having Gus a little further forward off McAtee and properly protecting the defence. The lack of adjustment for the level is also why we seem to be getting spanked with such regularity. I mean, how many defensive reinforcements did we go for? Trusty who was to be an alternative to Robbo and Souza. That’s it. There isn’t another proper defensive midfield option in the squad.

So, it’s not just who we recruited, it’s what.

Also, would love to know where the recruitment team thought Traore and Slimane were going to break into the team.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Over the last 5 years, approximately 180 million spent on fees and around 50m received, I'd be amazed if any other club around our size has a bigger net spend over that period, and certainly not any club that has spent a couple of those years on championship income

Managers have been backed, unfortunately it hasn't been spent well

Mate, you're wasting your breath. Don't let the truth get in the way of some Bladey McBladey, blame the Saudi guy for all the issues rather than engaging brain.

Last time we got promoted Wilder spunked money on absolute shite so understandable we were more circumspect this time. And even then we spunked money on complete fucking no marks like Traore and Slimane!

If i was the Prince, I'd be beside myself that so called great managers can do such a good job of getting us out of the Championship but then get brain freeze once in the PL....

But it fits the narrative for the hard of thinking to blame the guy from Saudi not the ones from Fulwood or Barnsley ...

 

[AWetFlannel]

We had a Sheffield united budget, we aren't bloody city, Liverpool, Newcastle, we don't have anywhere near the levels of revenue of these sides, explain to me where this budget is supposed to magic itself from

It shouldn't magic itself from anywhere.

Rotherham have a shit budget for the Championship, it makes it difficult for them to compete. Same with Sutton in league 2.

Do Rotherham fans slaughter their recruitment when inevitably the majority of their signings aren't good enough for the Championship?

I'm not saying we should spend money we don't have, I'm saying we should lower our expectations of what our money can buy.

 

[Bell4]

I'm not saying we should spend money we don't have, I'm saying we should lower our expectations of what our money can buy.

Quite the opposite imo

We should higher our expectations of what our money can buy . Our recruitment has been terrible even at our level of spending .

 

[AWetFlannel]

Jesus Christ I've read some drivel on here in the past, and I'm far from the princes biggest fan, but to say managers haven't been backed is a fucking joke

Depends what you mean by saying Hecky has been backed. Was our squad good enough to compete in the PL on getting promotion? No.

Was he given some money to spend? Yes. Was that money enough to replace Berge and Ndiaye and make the squad competitive at this level? No. If you think Hecky could've signed Cresswell, A. Robinson or Reguilon, but chose to sign Yasser Larouci instead you've lost your mind.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Quite the opposite imo

We should higher our expectations of what our money can buy . Our recruitment has been terrible even at our level of spending .

Compare our signings to teams with comparable levels of spending and tell me who's done loads better.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

You can't help but think that we have a small, inexperienced, fairly amateurish hierarchy at the top of the club, compared to our established PL peers.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

You can't help but think that we have a small, inexperienced, fairly amateurish hierarchy at the top of the club, compared to our established PL peers.

And that 1000% is what the Prince can, and should, be blamed for.

This knee jerk, pitch fork, bed wetting - 'where's muneh gone' Prince is a crook narrative is utter ridiculous....

 

[Yogi]

To say money hasn’t been spent by the prince isn’t true. Wilder was backed very handsomely those first two years in the prem and yes that money has almost exclusively been completely wasted and not just on the usual suspects which spring to mind. Almost every signing made in that period can be categorised as a failure for one reason or another if you’re so inclined.

Therefore, it easy to see and rationalise why the Prince can’t spend now. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the club needs someone to. Not on that level or paying out those type of fees but the club needs players it’s going to need a hell of a lot more in the summer looking at the contract situations and one way or another that needs to be paid for.

I can see why plenty say they wouldn’t trust Wilder to make those signings given the above but if that’s a view shared by the Prince he shouldn’t have reappointed him. Presumably given that he has reappointed him he does trust his judgement on players.

 

[MattFitz1994]

Is this really you? If so, first celebrity Blade to post in here?

View attachment 178646

Haha yes it is, figured it’s best place to voice my opinion

 

[MattFitz1994]

To say money hasn’t been spent by the prince isn’t true. Wilder was backed very handsomely those first two years in the prem and yes that money has almost exclusively been completely wasted and not just on the usual suspects which spring to mind. Almost every signing made in that period can be categorised as a failure for one reason or another if you’re so inclined.

Therefore, it easy to see and rationalise why the Prince can’t spend now. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the club needs someone to. Not on that level or paying out those type of fees but the club needs players it’s going to need a hell of a lot more in the summer looking at the contract situations and one way or another that needs to be paid for.

I can see why plenty say they wouldn’t trust Wilder to make those signings given the above but if that’s a view shared by the Prince he shouldn’t have reappointed him. Presumably given that he has reappointed him he does trust his judgement on players.

This is true, he has spent but we have no structure in place to spend on the right players. So many players out of contract this summer and we need some fresh players too. If we’d had an actual plan in place it wouldn’t have got to this point in the first place.

 

[Silent Blade]

Haha yes it is, figured it’s best place to voice my opinion

Hi Matt,

Good to see you here! We are all rooting for you to win more Majors!

UTB

 

[Yogi]

This is true, he has spent but we have no structure in place to spend on the right players. So many players out of contract this summer and we need some fresh players too. If we’d had an actual plan in place it wouldn’t have got to this point in the first place.

Yeah completely agree if we’re aiming to maximise what limited resources we do have then you’d think we’d be big on having a structure and process in place that we follow no matter what rather than relying on whoever is the manager at the time that typically changes every 2/3 years.

 

[dazzlingblade]

Depends what you mean by saying Hecky has been backed. Was our squad good enough to compete in the PL on getting promotion? No.

Was he given some money to spend? Yes. Was that money enough to replace Berge and Ndiaye and make the squad competitive at this level? No. If you think Hecky could've signed Cresswell, A. Robinson or Reguilon, but chose to sign Yasser Larouci instead you've lost

You can still be competitive on a budget like we had, even if that budget isn't really enough, you only have to look at Luton who recruited well

We should at least be competitive, we have been competitive in the past on similar and even smaller budgets

Unfortunately I think the purchases of Archer, Hamer and Souza left us short, hindsight is a wonderful thing because I also thought they were all good signings at the time, but what we really needed looking back was probably 8 or 9, 6 to 7 million pound players

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

To say money hasn’t been spent by the prince isn’t true. Wilder was backed very handsomely those first two years in the prem and yes that money has almost exclusively been completely wasted and not just on the usual suspects which spring to mind. Almost every signing made in that period can be categorised as a failure for one reason or another if you’re so inclined.

Therefore, it easy to see and rationalise why the Prince can’t spend now. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the club needs someone to. Not on that level or paying out those type of fees but the club needs players it’s going to need a hell of a lot more in the summer looking at the contract situations and one way or another that needs to be paid for.

I can see why plenty say they wouldn’t trust Wilder to make those signings given the above but if that’s a view shared by the Prince he shouldn’t have reappointed him. Presumably given that he has reappointed him he does trust his judgement on players.

This is true, he has spent but we have no structure in place to spend on the right players. So many players out of contract this summer and we need some fresh players too. If we’d had an actual plan in place it wouldn’t have got to this point in the first place.

What worries me, is that we were incredibly sluggish in the summer, to simply get Slimane, Larouci, Traore and Souza in. Four players, that's it.

How on earth are we going to organise and negotiate the level of recruitment we need this summer when we were still patching together a starting 11 come August. Let alone, how are we going to afford it?!

 

[Yogi]

What worries me, is that we were incredibly sluggish in the summer, to simply get Slimane, Larouci, Traore and Souza in. Four players, that's it.

How on earth are we going to organise and negotiate the level of recruitment we need this summer when we we're still patching together a starting 11 come August. Let alone, how are we going to afford it?!

I think that could be an issue as well Kozzy especially if let’s say Wilder isn’t retained. We could realistically be looking for a new staff before even knowing what type of players we’ll be looking for.

 

[AWetFlannel]

You can still be competitive on a budget like we had, even if that budget isn't really enough, you only have to look at Luton who recruited well

We should at least be competitive, we have been competitive in the past on similar and even smaller budgets

Unfortunately I think the purchases of Archer, Hamer and Souza left us short, hindsight is a wonderful thing because I also thought they were all good signings at the time, but what we really needed looking back was probably 8 or 9, 6 to 7 million pound players

Have Luton recruited incredibly well?

Their biggest spend was on Ryan Giles, £5 million and their fans think he's gash, just been sent out on loan to Hull.

Next most expensive is Chong for about £4.1 million who's started 6 games. Would any other PL team take him this season or next if they go down? Doubt it.

They brought in a load of free transfers and a few loans, most of whom have looked decent. Like under Wilder when everything was going amazing, we'd bring in dross like Craine, Johnson and Donaldson and they'd do a job.

Have Luton recruited PL standard players with their tiny budget, or have they actually not recruited one who is PL level, but are flying high regardless based on their momentum, tactics etc?

If they go down this season, no PL team would look twice at Ogbene, Brown, Nakamba, Chong, Giles, Kaminski etc. The one who would get taken is Barkley, a risky signing that's paid off, fair play to them for making it work.

I can only imagine the uproar had we signed him, "another washed up wage thief like Morrison, Rodwell etc, a project for Wilder who thinks he can get the best out of them, paying them loads to do nowt."

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

What worries me, is that we were incredibly sluggish in the summer, to simply get Slimane, Larouci, Traore and Souza in. Four players, that's it.

How on earth are we going to organise and negotiate the level of recruitment we need this summer when we were still patching together a starting 11 come August. Let alone, how are we going to afford it?!

It's a ridiculously strong point you make.

Especially as i can't see any of those 4 players being much use in a 46 game hoof fest.

We need a MD/Director of Football/Technical Director more than we need a central midfielder and that's saying something!!!

 

[Greenwich Blade]

When has Lincoln had 70m invested in them

That cathedral wasn't cheap, you know.

 

[Bell4]

Have Luton recruited incredibly well?

Their biggest spend was on Ryan Giles, £5 million and their fans think he's gash, just been sent out on loan to Hull.

Next most expensive is Chong for about £4.1 million who's started 6 games. Would any other PL team take him this season or next if they go down? Doubt it.

They brought in a load of free transfers and a few loans, most of whom have looked decent. Like under Wilder when everything was going amazing, we'd bring in dross like Craine, Johnson and Donaldson and they'd do a job.

Have Luton recruited PL standard players with their tiny budget, or have they actually not recruited one who is PL level, but are flying high regardless based on their momentum, tactics etc?

If they go down this season, no PL team would look twice at Ogbene, Brown, Nakamba, Chong, Giles, Kaminski etc. The one who would get taken is Barkley, a risky signing that's paid off, fair play to them for making it work.

I can only imagine the uproar had we signed him, "another washed up wage thief like Morrison, Rodwell etc, a project for Wilder who thinks he can get the best out of them, paying them loads to do nowt."

Fair points tbh

 

[MagnifiqueShorehamStreet]

Over the last 5 years, approximately 180 million spent on fees and around 50m received, I'd be amazed if any other club around our size has a bigger net spend over that period, and certainly not any club that has spent a couple of those years on championship income

Managers have been backed, unfortunately it hasn't been spent well

You fail to mention, the 2 lots of Sky tv money, parachute payments, and increased match day revenue, which we reaped on the back of buying better players.Even if your figures are right, you’re not reflecting the whole picture.
Hecky, backed this summer!Don’t make me laugh!
If that’s backing, I’d hate to see, what whipping the carpet from underneath you, looks like!

 

[cooperblade]

This is true, he has spent but we have no structure in place to spend on the right players. So many players out of contract this summer and we need some fresh players too. If we’d had an actual plan in place it wouldn’t have got to this point in the first place.

And this is the key thing that should unite everyone on here (even the most ardent Prince supporters of which there still seem to be many) - we have no plan and we have no-one capable (or willing) of making a plan above the manager. Nothing has cost us more dearly than that, not even the lack of spending power.

The whole summer, like most of what went before it from a football operations / planning point of view, was an unmitigated disaster. All it needed was for someone in May to say "this is the budget, this is what is acceptable to us and this is what isn't" and then we might have had a chance. We might've still finished bottom but at least we'd have felt like we'd done everything in our power to give it a go. To change the most fundamental elements of what we were doing on a daily basis meant it was impossible for any manager to succeed and no-one should be surprised that our squad is a mess.

I would have had no complaints if we'd taken the approach of 'staying up is probably going to be beyond us so let's build to come straight back up' but we're going to be in a much worse state at the start of next season than we were at the start of our last Championship season - how can that be right? What medium and long-term benefits are we going to see from 3 seasons in the Premier League and why is the answer to that question zero?

Even an owner who had done nothing and said nothing would be an improvement. Imagine watching your players slog through an incredible injury crisis, pulling out result after result despite everything and then saying "I like to let players contracts run down to the last year so they try harder". Jesus.

 

[dazzlingblade]

You fail to mention, the 2 lots of Sky tv money, parachute payments, and increased match day revenue, which we reaped on the back of buying better players.Even if your figures are right, you’re not reflecting the whole picture.
Hecky, backed this summer!Don’t make me laugh!
If that’s backing, I’d hate to see, what whipping the carpet from underneath you, looks like!

And you failed to mention loan fees, wages for playing and non playing staff, covering shortfall from seasons in the championship, policing costs, general costs of running a huge business, youth budget, travel and accomodation costs

We don't sell millions of shirts abroad like other clubs, we don't charge 70 quid for a basic seat

As I said I'm not a prince fan, but anyone who can't understand the fundamentals and costs of running a business amazes me

 

[BalticBlade]

And this is the key thing that should unite everyone on here (even the most ardent Prince supporters of which there still seem to be many) - we have no plan and we have no-one capable (or willing) of making a plan above the manager. Nothing has cost us more dearly than that, not even the lack of spending power.

The whole summer, like most of what went before it from a football operations / planning point of view, was an unmitigated disaster. All it needed was for someone in May to say "this is the budget, this is what is acceptable to us and this is what isn't" and then we might have had a chance. We might've still finished bottom but at least we'd have felt like we'd done everything in our power to give it a go. To change the most fundamental elements of what we were doing on a daily basis meant it was impossible for any manager to succeed and no-one should be surprised that our squad is a mess.

I would have had no complaints if we'd taken the approach of 'staying up is probably going to be beyond us so let's build to come straight back up' but we're going to be in a much worse state at the start of next season than we were at the start of our last Championship season - how can that be right? What medium and long-term benefits are we going to see from 3 seasons in the Premier League and why is the answer to that question zero?

Even an owner who had done nothing and said nothing would be an improvement. Imagine watching your players slog through an incredible injury crisis, pulling out result after result despite everything and then saying "I like to let players contracts run down to the last year so they try harder". Jesus.

This pretty much hits the nail on the head.

 

[Balham Blade]

Premier League net spend table over the last five years

Forget the league table, it's all about the Premier League net spend table. And Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal are ahead of the other 17.

www.football365.com

It’s hard to believe i know

Not sure I believe £30m net spend this season...

In: £48m (Archer £18m, Hamer £11m, Souza £7m, Trusty £5m, Traoré £4m, Grbic £2m, Slimane £1m)
Out: £35m (Ndiaye £20m, Berge £15m)

Net £13m.

 

[cooperblade]

Not sure I believe £30m net spend this season...

In: £48m (Archer £18m, Hamer £11m, Souza £7m, Trusty £5m, Traoré £4m, Grbic £2m, Slimane £1m)
Out: £35m (Ndiaye £20m, Berge £15m)

Net £13m.

And Archer's fee is, to some extent, a no-risk gamble given we get the majority of it back if we go down.

 

[Silent Blade]

And Archer's fee is, to some extent, a no-risk gamble given we get the majority of it back if we go down.

I thought we get all the money back if we go do down?

 

[Lower Drop Blade]

I thought we get all the money back if we go do down?

Really fella