Game changing investment?

[Patrick Suffaux]

If we go down they'll sack Clough we always do another nice pay off for a united manager

Indeed and hasn't that solved things in the past.

 

[davidpinder]

Indeed and hasn't that solved things in the past.

True but you know what they are like, they have to take the blame for not supporting the manger with proper money

 

[UnitedBlade]

Thought I'd have a quick look at the battlefield which is Jim Phipps's twitter.

His implication is that we went for a striker but that person opted to do something else - we can only speculate on who that might have been.

He has stated again that budget is not the problem.

This can only be partly mitigated if Clough does land a quality striker when the window opens.

Fuck knows who would want to come but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Deadbat]

Horseshit. If they wanted to buy us out of this they would. They don't care

Sadly I agree. We are in the brown stuff. It is clear we needed to spend money to sign 2 or 3 quality players to stay up. We have not done that.

People may say it is not as simple as that and it isn't but we have not even tried. A couple of reserve full backs and a young Scottish player who is seen as one for the future aint going to keep us up.

All this talk of clubs wont sell or players wont come to strugglers is nonsense to me. Money talks. If we offer enough to clubs/players they come. And don't give me the FFP rubbish. We hardly have a squad left - we had likes of Kitson/Robson/Quinn etc last year and the season before Evans/Williamson etc. We were fine then and our wage bill is nowhere near what it was then on similar crowds.

I am beginning to wonder about the bona fides of these 'new men'. Sad to say it but sod all has happened in terms of really turning the club round. We sacked a manager who was clearly awful. Brought one in who is better but in reality has us getting hardly any better results and in the same position as we came in. We have not invested in new players we needed (yes we have brought some in but that has been offset by so many going out and doubt much if anything has actually been spent).

We had to spend in the JTW (everyone said the investment came too late for August of course but we had 4 months to pan for this) to improve this poor side. We did not and in my opinion will suffer the consequences of relegation. Then all that waiting for the summer clap trap will matter little. For what it is worth I don't think we will would have even seen any difference in the summer. It all seems baloney to me. Sadly actions speak louder than words and I am unsure how interested the Prince actually is. He barely attends/we rarely hear from him; sure Phipps says all the right things on twitter but I would not be surprised if following relegation they all disappeared into the night.

Sorry to be so negative but I see nothing to see that anything has changed. We are in a right mess and on track to follow Pompey into total football oblivion.

Have a good weekend!

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Thought I'd have a quick look at the battlefield which is Jim Phipps's twitter.

His implication is that we went for a striker but that person opted to do something else - we can only speculate on who that might have been.

He has stated again that budget is not the problem.

This can only be partly mitigated if Clough does land a quality striker when the window opens.

Fuck knows who would want to come but I'm not holding my breath.

Funny how other teams seem to find strikers who know where the back of the net is, Craig Davies scores today for PNE, there is one for starters.

 

[Kev Gee]

Its not the Prince & his lot that cross the white line. Nigel clough put out a good 11 today & they should have had enough to beat Crewe.. You may not like it but NC has been backed.
The buck stops with the players. They have let NC down, the board down but more importantly those hardy souls that got piss wet through on the terraces today. They are a shambles & a disgrace & they need to know that there futures as footballers, niot just with us but future employers is on the line.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Funny how other teams seem to find strikers who know where the back of the net is, Craig Davies scores today for PNE, there is one for starters.

Yes, no decent striker seems to want to join our relegation battle (not least the players we currently have)

Jim has now said we still have one of the highest wage budgets in the league. He also hints that the Prince has put millions in already.

We've got a pile of shit on the field for the money spent. If we can limp over the line let's hope they clear it all out in the summer.

I'm just sick of it all.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Yes, no decent striker seems to want to join our relegation battle (not least the players we currently have)

Jim has now said we still have one of the highest wage budgets in the league. He also hints that the Prince has put millions in already.

We've got a pile of shit on the field for the money spent. If we can limp over the line let's hope they clear it all out in the summer.

I'm just sick of it all.

One of the highest wage budgets or one of the highest payrolls? We can't possibly have one of the highest payrolls, we don't have one player any of the top 6 would want. Something wrong somewhere if he's saying we do. If he means budget, then It's no use having a big budget if we don't use it.

 

[UnitedBlade]

One of the highest wage budgets or one of the highest payrolls? We can't possibly have one of the highest payrolls, we don't have one player any of the top 6 would want. Something wrong somewhere if he's saying we do. If he means budget, then It's no use having a big budget if we don't use it.

Just checked and he didn't use either of those terms !

"The wage bill is not the issue, friend. We've had one of the highest in the league all season."

However, the implication is clear we pay very well - and what we witness is absolute shite value for money.

I think the occasional comment has now become abusive (it was bound to happen) but apparently Jim spent many years in the army so he has heard it all before !

What a mess our club is. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel personally.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Just checked and he didn't use either of those terms !

"The wage bill is not the issue, friend. We've had one of the highest in the league all season."

However, the implication is clear we pay very well - and what we witness is absolute shite value for money.

I think the occasional comment has now become abusive (it was bound to happen) but apparently Jim spent many years in the army so he has heard it all before !

What a mess our club is. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel personally.

I don't see how the wage bill can be one of the highest. Unless they're using figures that include players that have long left and are still being paid off. Which isn't an accurate portrayal if they are. All the big earners have gone. who is left who will be on good money? I'd be amazed if our wage bill is more than half the current Wolves wage bill.

 

[UnitedBlade]

I don't see how the wage bill can be one of the highest. Unless they're using figures that include players that have long left and are still being paid off. Which isn't an accurate portrayal if they are. All the big earners have gone. who is left who will be on good money? I'd be amazed if our wage bill is more than half the current Wolves wage bill.

They may well still be paying players that have left. Yes, Wolves will be an exception because they have £16M of parachute payments. Bristol City is probably also higher but I bet we are still top 6 wage payers. Disgraceful but probably still correct.

We can't prove or disprove it without up to date figures but if our turnover is about £8M, we can have an SCMP player bill of £4.8M. I'd be surprised if we aren't close to that and I'd be surprised if many others can get near that figure.

The FC wage bill in 2011/12 was £12M - won't all be players but most of it is.

Good value for money we get isn't it ?

 

[bartman]

I Nigel clough put out a good 11 today /quote]

Did he ? He had a central midfield 2 that couldn't tackle there way out of a wet paper bag today and Baxter is starting to look more and more of a luxury player away from home(the reason we were looking at Billy Clarke ?)

 

[bricktop]

If we get relegated this season i will come on here to offer my unreserved congratulations to all those who are saying I told you so

 

[Sirius]

If we go down they'll sack Clough we always do another nice pay off for a united manager

That's made me wonder if, we have spent more in paying off our last few managers than we have on securing new players?

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

People are forgetting how much wasted investment has gone into the club that we don't acknowledge because it isn't booting a ball in the back of the net every week; Clough (decent salary no doubt), his backroom staff, pay offs for failures like Weir/King/Williams and then under performing wastes of money like Taylor and Cuvelier. The club has hemorrhaged money into failure and any sensible owner would have to say 'enough is enough'.

Like I said earlier; teams like Leyton Orient, Walsall, Coventry etc. aren't achieving more then us because they spend more money on players. They are experiencing success with good management/coaching who have patiently crafted competitive squads. We haven't achieved neither of those in recent years. The club has had a high turnover of players and managers in recent years and we're now suffering because of it.

The solution? It isn't what you may want to hear, but it's going to take a lot of time and a lot more patience. Clough is in the premature stages of crafting a squad but he can't change the culture of the club overnight by carelessly spending a few million in a transfer window. See QPR in the Premiership last season as a recent example of that.

It's taken many years of failure (2007 relegation, 2007-2008 Robson era, 2009 play-off failure, 2011 relegation, play off failure 2012, another play off failure 2013 and the Weir era) to put us where we currently find ourselves.

 

[super_pig]

i don't buy this wage bill bollocks either.. how can we possibly be on an enormous wage bill with a team of cast offs, clapped outs and kids?
wha? Doyle and Collins are on what??
i have faith in Clough.. he seems to recognise this too.. i'd clear out all of last years team members especially the two above.. we have been going downhill fast since alehouse signed laurel and hardy

 

[Barry Blunt]

I think some people on this board don't understand this division, or the budgets the clubs have to work with. Of course your wage bill is in the top 6, based on attendances and commercial income.

We haven't spent a penny on a transfer fee for years, and the likes of Westlake, Brandy and Cuvelier joined you because you offered more than double what we could afford. For the latter two, we offered £2k a week, which would have made them joint highest earners. You offered £4k to both.

Both quality players at this level, and worth the money.

Your problem is your managers aren't getting the best out of players. We have invested, not in players, but in an excellent fitness coach, and game analysts to get information on opposition weaknesses, and how to improve the weaknesses of our own players.

Brandy and our fitness coach said it would take him a few weeks to get up to the fitness levels expected of Walsall players, after leaving you, due to our superior training methods.

It's not about how much you spend, but how you spend it at this level.

 

[Borbokisfreekick]

People are forgetting how much wasted investment has gone into the club that we don't acknowledge because it isn't booting a ball in the back of the net every week; Clough (decent salary no doubt), his backroom staff, pay offs for failures like Weir/King/Williams and then under performing wastes of money like Taylor and Cuvelier. The club has hemorrhaged money into failure and any sensible owner would have to say 'enough is enough'.

Like I said earlier; teams like Leyton Orient, Walsall, Coventry etc. aren't achieving more then us because they spend more money on players. They are experiencing success with good management/coaching who have patiently crafted competitive squads. We haven't achieved neither of those in recent years. The club has had a high turnover of players and managers in recent years and we're now suffering because of it.

The solution? It isn't what you may want to hear, but it's going to take a lot of time and a lot more patience. Clough is in the premature stages of crafting a squad but he can't change the culture of the club overnight by carelessly spending a few million in a transfer window. See QPR in the Premiership last season as a recent example of that.

It's taken many years of failure (2007 relegation, 2007-2008 Robson era, 2009 play-off failure, 2011 relegation, play off failure 2012, another play off failure 2013 and the Weir era) to put us where we currently find ourselves.

Great post D'Jaffo, nice to see a bit of common sense.

 

[Guesty]

If we get relegated this season i will come on here to offer my unreserved congratulations to all those who are saying I told you so

Obviously a much better way to support the team (and I'm not saying all of this applies to you in particular) is to blindly swear that everything is rosy, abuse anyone who suggests otherwise and then seize the high ground by preemptively and sarcastically congratulating the 'I told you so' crowd. Who did, after all, tell you so.

Over the last few seasons the pessimists have consistently being right yet are slagged off continually for not being proper Blades. It's like Cassandra from Greek legend.

 

[stringjunior]

Buy us out of it? Should we be spending millions of £££ to perform at a level similar to Port Vale, Coventry or Oldham? No. The problem lyes in the poor squad we've crafted and the poor attitude of the players. Those problems don't get fixed overnight by chucking money around recklessly.

What he said ^^^