Bournmouth / Brentford

[wak1889]

And yet we've had 3 seasons there in recent times and seem skinter each time we're there.

Because when we get there we buy shit that have no resale value, we broke our transfer record many times signing players when we got promoted, how much did the transfers of Mcburnie, brewster, callum Robinson, ramsdale, mousett, berge, Luke Freeman , cost us v what we have recouped in fees when they left us

 

[Booker4]

Because we haven’t really invested in the analytics side of it in the same way. We used the premier league money to make big signings like McBurnie, Brewster and Mousset. 0 of those signings were likely to move on to make any kind of material profits. Berge is the only exception, but we contrived to actually not make anything on him. Ironically, Fulham will likely realise that profit on him now.

The Brentford example is an excellent one as they signed the likes of Maupay for peanuts, had a huge impact on them actually reaching the premier league, THEN flogged him for multi-millions. The only similar signing we’ve had in recent times that cuts from this mould was Ndiaye.

We need a shake up of the recruitment strategy if we want to really break into the premier league, but I can’t see that coming any time soon.

On the recruitment side for the under 21's we've had some absolute gems signed for nothing or next to nothing. David Brooks, Will Osula, Ndiaye, Peck, Lankshear to name a few. So it's not all bad on the recruitment side in my view. We've just struggled when we've needed better players in the PL because it's rough buying players ready for PL football at a club in it's infancy in the top flight.

We've had the same problem in past PL seasons too under Warnock and Harry to a lesser extent.

 

[N20 Blade]

It’s been discussed in previous threads, but how much does geographical location influence a player’s desire to play or stay? Teams in London have a stronger pull for young players and their families compared to the deindustrial landscape of Sheffield - yes, the Peak District is nearby, but is that the lifestyle young players seek? As London grows and absorbs more teams, will there be an even greater north–south divide, with fewer northern teams represented in the top flight?

There are, however, anomalies: Sunderland, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leeds, and the Manchester and Liverpool teams. But is this down to their history and identity as cities and clubs? Does Sheffield’s recent lack of footballing achievement, combined with the city’s wider underperformance, present a significant challenge in attracting and retaining players or investment? Sheffield performs worse than most cities not only in football, but also in economic investment, unemployment and school performance - even a simple Google image search fails to sell the city to likely players or investors.

The monopolization of the PL by South East clubs is a real problem. Given that there are four from the North West that will never go down, it creates a closed shop. One can confidently add Newcastle United and Villa too. The early signs are massively encouraging for Sunderland, but Wolves & Leicester had similar opportunities and blew them.

Trying to become an established PL club is difficult. More so, the further away from the M25 you are situated.