Game Changing Investment

[Chali 2na]

Without wanting to start a megathread of arguments, I do want to talk about the famous line.

Is anyone else wondering if the statement (which I believe was made in 2013) was true at the time, but due to the spending in the championship now, is actually off the mark?

The big TV Deal in the premier league and the increasing prevalence of sugar daddy owners has made the championship one of the highest spending leagues in the world. The best players go for £10+ and almost every club is capable of spending 7 figures on a player.

I'm basically saying that the Prince (who according to forbes is worth $144.5m) has intentions to still invest, but it's hard to imagine that investment will be 'Game changing' when clubs like Villa, Wolves, Birmingham and Derby could spend his entire fortune in one transfer window.

Or am I just stating the obvious?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

We've bought that kid from Hartlepool

 

[SwissBlade]

I think it's probably still applicable.

 

[McGrath]

You never know... without it we might be in the conference now!

 

[Chali 2na]

I think it's probably still applicable.

I hope you're right.

I'm also of the opinion that it's not a necessity. (Massive amounts of money that is.) While it helps to have deep pockets, I don't think it's impossible to get out of this league spending modestly, in fact, I'd back Wilder to do it.

 

[JordoBlade]

Our transfer kitty doesn't fill me with confidence but thank god we have Wilder....

 

[JohnDenver]

You never know... without it we might be in the conference now!

With McCabe's "run at cost" ambitions before the Prince came in, we could certainly be a whole lot worse off now. The game has been changed, albeit a bit slowly.

Now His Princeship needs to tap up his cousins for a few quid because we surely can't challenge seriously without spending on a bigger scale. In between bickering in the General Chat section, I'll be watching our signings with interest.

 

[JordoBlade]

Oh and I personally feel the "game changing investment" is a load of rubbish. Just my opinion mind and I base that on the amount of spin McCabe has spun in the past.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I think we've all got used to Uncle Kev's rhetoric by now and realise that's what it was. We think of Saudi Princes and oil Sheiks and imagine immense wealth but there are dozens of Royal this and that's out there and they're not all billionaires, which is what we are competing with in some cases.

I actually think the game is ripe for change. I can't see the big money drying up anytime soon but I can see some shrewd managers proving that you don't need to spend vast millions on individual players to be successful. When that happens enough times there will be a change in the game. Owners will suddenly begin to realise that it's not about buying success but developing it through good management. They may realise also that firing managers every 2 minutes isn't the way to be successful either. Good management may even lead to a return of loyalty from player to club and club to manager.

It is worth hoping for and I think that's our best hope for the future.

 

[Chali 2na]

Oh and I personally feel...

Don't worry Jordo, we know how you feel.

 

[JayGreen17]

Without wanting to start a megathread of arguments, I do want to talk about the famous line.

Is anyone else wondering if the statement (which I believe was made in 2013) was true at the time, but due to the spending in the championship now, is actually off the mark?

The big TV Deal in the premier league and the increasing prevalence of sugar daddy owners has made the championship one of the highest spending leagues in the world. The best players go for £10+ and almost every club is capable of spending 7 figures on a player.

I'm basically saying that the Prince (who according to forbes is worth $144.5m) has intentions to still invest, but it's hard to imagine that investment will be 'Game changing' when clubs like Villa, Wolves, Birmingham and Derby could spend his entire fortune in one transfer window.

Or am I just stating the obvious?

We haven't even spent 500k yet so even back then that was chicken feed, bearing in mind we stumped up 4m on Beattie in 2008.

I'm not buying "I'm not spunking moneh" on players, I'm not saying we need to spend 10's of milllions, however a club our size and the level of the owners wealth I would say around £10m to position ourselves in the top 10 would be enough, well with Chris as manager it would.

If we don't have a pot to piss in then the only thing that will keep us up will be Chris and his marvellous management skills, however he will need money or expect him to be off to pastures new in a couple of years.

We have the momentum let's back the bloke. (I'm not saying he won't get the cash) I'm commenting on the current position.

 

[JayGreen17]

I think we've all got used to Uncle Kev's rhetoric by now and realise that's what it was. We think of Saudi Princes and oil Sheiks and imagine immense wealth but there are dozens of Royal this and that's out there and they're not all billionaires, which is what we are competing with in some cases.

I actually think the game is ripe for change. I can't see the big money drying up anytime soon but I can see some shrewd managers proving that you don't need to spend vast millions on individual players to be successful. When that happens enough times there will be a change in the game. Owners will suddenly begin to realise that it's not about buying success but developing it through good management. They may realise also that firing managers every 2 minutes isn't the way to be successful either. Good management may even lead to a return of loyalty from player to club and club to manager.

It is worth hoping for and I think that's our best hope for the future.

Trouble is that's when the wealthy owners will cherry pick the managers who can work with a budget efficiently and still a get decent players as part of a successful team. That's when w'ell lose our Chris.

 

[Chali 2na]

We haven't even spent 500k yet so even back then that was chicken feed, bearing in mind we stumped up 4m on Beattie in 2008.

I'm not buying "I'm not spunking moneh" on players, I'm not saying we need to spend 10's of milllions, however a club our size and the level of the owners wealth I would say around £10m to position ourselves in the top 10 would be enough, well with Chris as manager it would.

If we don't have a pot to piss in then the only thing that will keep us up will be Chris and his marvellous management skills, however he will need money or expect him to be off to pastures new in a couple of years.

We have the momentum let's back the bloke. (I'm not saying he won't get the cash) I'm commenting on the current position.

Fair enough, I don't really disagree with your logic, though I may be a little more positive.

I can't see us spending £10m in a single transfer window either for the record. (I'm not entirely convinced that's a bad thing either.)

 

[SwissBlade]

I hope you're right.

I'm also of the opinion that it's not a necessity. (Massive amounts of money that is.) While it helps to have deep pockets, I don't think it's impossible to get out of this league spending modestly, in fact, I'd back Wilder to do it.

Exactly. I think the biggest thing is that over the past few years, since the prince arrived, we've invested. Sometimes wildly in the wrong direction... managers and expensive players etc

However now, under wilder we appear to be willing to move much faster, which suggests that the finances are available quickly and the moves into the markets are planned. Ched for example.

I agree 100% that we don't have to spend big but wisely. Had the very same discussion with my piggy brother in law last night. He's more in tune with our spending model than theirs.

He did take the piss and ask about this big investment and I said that we're trying to consolidate instead of spending 10m on a striker that we don't need.

One thing is for sure - there will be at least 10 sides with more finances available this season and we need to be smart. I think we will be.

Build on what we have, see where we are in jan, build again, build again in the summer.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

Without wanting to start a megathread of arguments, I do want to talk about the famous line.

Is anyone else wondering if the statement (which I believe was made in 2013) was true at the time, but due to the spending in the championship now, is actually off the mark?

The big TV Deal in the premier league and the increasing prevalence of sugar daddy owners has made the championship one of the highest spending leagues in the world. The best players go for £10+ and almost every club is capable of spending 7 figures on a player.

I'm basically saying that the Prince (who according to forbes is worth $144.5m) has intentions to still invest, but it's hard to imagine that investment will be 'Game changing' when clubs like Villa, Wolves, Birmingham and Derby could spend his entire fortune in one transfer window.

Or am I just stating the obvious?

I've posted recently I think when that statement was made it wasn't expected we would be so long in the pub league and didn't envision the huge changes in Championship incomes and expenditure. We now have to adjust and I don't feel we should give the owners a hard time over this.
We are on an upward curve. Let's support the Board,management and players.
Or must we spend our time slating the owners for historical errors.
Draw a line in the sand!

 

[McGrath]

If it was all spent on paying off David Weir then it was money well spent

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I've posted recently I think when that statement was made it wasn't expected we would be so long in the pub league and didn't envision the huge changes in Championship incomes and expenditure. We now have to adjust and I don't feel we should give the owners a hard time over this.
We are on an upward curve. Let's support the Board,management and players.
Or must we spend our time slating the owners for historical errors.
Draw a line in the sand!

True but at some point we are going to have to open the cheque book if we want Premier league football.

 

[JayGreen17]

Fair enough, I don't really disagree with your logic, though I may be a little more positive.

I can't see us spending £10m in a single transfer window either for the record. (I'm not entirely convinced that's a bad thing either.)

Maybe not required, but over a season and 2 windows to make sure we aren't scrapping around the bottom 8 I would suggest its wise, if our owners can't stump up this kind of money for a club our size over the next few years my honest opinion is we will struggle to stay in this league, as we would be relying on 1. Chris staying and 2. Chris unearthing some gems.

Our club is of a decent size for this division, I would put us in the top 8 at least, however more than happy to see where Chris takes us this year, could really go either way, however I definitely don't think we will be relegation fodder (this season) My prediction as it stands - 16th, get a couple champ qual CB then maybe top 10-15 place, add to that some pace and possibly top 10.

All very exciting though, this has got to be one of the longest close seasons for years!

 

[Oreyt]

I had dominoes. I borrowed a tenner off me dad and bought Hungry Hippos: GCI.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

True but at some point we are going to have to open the cheque book if we want Premier league football.

Maybe,but that may well not be this season.
Huddersfield took a few years. They opened it on wages and agents fees if not transfer fees.
Not exactly done the porcine a lot of good opening the chequebook has it?
In fact they really need to do something about their deathtrap before the capacity is reduced to something akin to Fleetwoods.

 

[Blade1771]

Why not follow the Huddersfield blueprint.

Consolidate in the Championship and build year upon year.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

It'll be interesting to see how far team spirit and a sprinkling of decent players gets us next season but it's hard to see how we're going to leave the Championship in the right direction without spending significant amounts on quality along the way.
Last time when we came up from the third Bassett had team spirit but also had Deane and Agana to lead the charge and we don't have anything like that quality up front.

 

[SwissBlade]

It'll be interesting to see how far team spirit and a sprinkling of decent players gets us next season but it's hard to see how we're going to leave the Championship in the right direction without spending significant amounts on quality along the way.
Last time when we came up from the third Bassett had team spirit but also had Deane and Agana to lead the charge and we don't have anything like that quality up front.

Agreed, but it doesn't have to be and shouldn't be done immediately. It will be a few years building

 

[zablade]

Never took the "Game changing" or "Think Liverpool" thing seriously to start with.

However where I get annoyed with Kevin McCabe is the likes of last pre-seasons fans forum where he came out with "substantial investment from The Prince once we reach The Championship" statement..

Now I didn't believe that either, but why say it? I suspect last summer KM expected it to be two to three seasons at least before we got back to this level at which point HRH would have been long gone and it didn't need fulfilling due to the "changed circumstances"

Now we are already hearing the "January Transfer Window" misdirection.

McCabe should go on holiday between April and August and shut up. He does himself no favours.

And belive it or not I think he has on balance done us a decent if flawed job to keep us out of admin and the Portsmouth / Blackpool horror.

But he is his own worst enemy.

Or his second worst enemy after pommpey

 

[knowsnowt]

McCabe comes out with some stupid shit, well intentioned but stupid nonetheless.
I'm not gonna slate him for it, he's a Blade ffs, just like each and everyone of us he wants to see 3 points from a match and sometimes gets a little too bad xcited like all of us.
End of the day he's kept on financing is whilst guarding our future from imbecilic owners we've seen previously.
Probably not gonna see £10m kinda signings as some expect, which is a positive for me. That's not how I want us to.operate in this league.
Each to their own if you wanna chant about false promise at games, and other such vitriol.
I won't be joining on though.

 

[Bladesman]

Without wanting to start a megathread of arguments, I do want to talk about the famous line.

Is anyone else wondering if the statement (which I believe was made in 2013) was true at the time, but due to the spending in the championship now, is actually off the mark?

The big TV Deal in the premier league and the increasing prevalence of sugar daddy owners has made the championship one of the highest spending leagues in the world. The best players go for £10+ and almost every club is capable of spending 7 figures on a player.

I'm basically saying that the Prince (who according to forbes is worth $144.5m) has intentions to still invest, but it's hard to imagine that investment will be 'Game changing' when clubs like Villa, Wolves, Birmingham and Derby could spend his entire fortune in one transfer window.

Or am I just stating the obvious?

Expenditure has tripled since 2013 in the championship BUT it was clear spending in the championship was increasing back then.

Never took the "Game changing" or "Think Liverpool" thing seriously to start with.

However where I get annoyed with Kevin McCabe is the likes of last pre-seasons fans forum where he came out with "substantial investment from The Prince once we reach The Championship" statement..

Now I didn't believe that either, but why say it? I suspect last summer KM expected it to be two to three seasons at least before we got back to this level at which point HRH would have been long gone and it didn't need fulfilling due to the "changed circumstances"

Now we are already hearing the "January Transfer Window" misdirection.

McCabe should go on holiday between April and August and shut up. He does himself no favours.

And belive it or not I think he has on balance done us a decent if flawed job to keep us out of admin and the Portsmouth / Blackpool horror.

But he is his own worst enemy.

Or his second worst enemy after pommpey

He says things like "substantial investment from The Prince once we reach The Championship" because it helps sell tickets.

It's best to take everything Kev says with a pinch of salt and just hope we don't end up selling more of our youngsters for next to fuck all.

 

[Kev Gee]

Looking at this thread its almost as if last season has been forgotten about.............

Have we suddenly gone from the conference to the premiership or something?

Get a fucking grip.

There are teams in this league that have recruited well. (Barnsley for example) and have spent within their budget.

Weve just amassed 100 points in the league below. Dont just dismiss the team that achieved that.

 

[Mesut Özil's Lawnmower]

Just because we haven't spent loads doesn't mean the money isn't available if it needs to be i.e. Wilder is absolutely desperate for a player and no alternative will suffice

Just because you've got it doesn't mean you've got to use it, and if we bring in Holmes and Leonard this week I'll be looking at our transfer business so far thinking we've brought in some class and, compared to others, barely spent a penny

Too many people getting stressed because we're not paying millions for Championship has beens

I trust Wilder and his staff to make the right decisions whether the player costs 500k or 5mil

 

[Sean Thornton]

Kevin McCabe never used the phrase " game changing investment" no matter how many times its stated he did. he said the Princes investment was "game changing". Of course it was. Weir was appointed as a cheap option and KMc had said he wasn't carrying on funding losses and the club had to stand on its own two feet. HRH has pumped in millions - KMc has put at least £4m extra in as well - just to cover losses as the club smashed out , unsuccessfully again. It's taken too long but we've got promotion.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Never took the "Game changing" or "Think Liverpool" thing seriously to start with.

However where I get annoyed with Kevin McCabe is the likes of last pre-seasons fans forum where he came out with "substantial investment from The Prince once we reach The Championship" statement..

Now I didn't believe that either, but why say it? I suspect last summer KM expected it to be two to three seasons at least before we got back to this level at which point HRH would have been long gone and it didn't need fulfilling due to the "changed circumstances"

Now we are already hearing the "January Transfer Window" misdirection.

McCabe should go on holiday between April and August and shut up. He does himself no favours.

And belive it or not I think he has on balance done us a decent if flawed job to keep us out of admin and the Portsmouth / Blackpool horror.

But he is his own worst enemy.

Or his second worst enemy after pommpey

Can we kill once and for all this "admin" shit. He is the only major creditor. Admin was never an option. If he kept us out of admin, it's because he hasn't sokd us to some shyster to cut his losses, £4m being his share of that in the last accounts.
We should be grateful for that.