Mills to Leicester 5 Million

[Royal Lady]

Personally, with a team that came so tantalising close to the Prem just last season, I'd have considered the team extremly ambitious if they'd kept all their current players.

I suppose you can argue that money talks and if someone else comes in with a shed load more per week than your current team are offering, you'd take it - but if your current team makes it clear to you and your fellow players that they intend to get back in the Prem and they want to do that WITH you plus a few back up players - why wouldn't you give it one more crack at least? Mills could have said he'd sign a one year extension and if we didn't go up next season he'd be off. But if the vibe around the ground was that "there's another black hole" and players need to be sold - you'll put yourself in the market to jump ship and try and get that ambition with another club. Possibly.

For me, the worst part of all of this is the statement by McD today that none of the money can be used to bring in more players. So the likes of Long/Feds/poss Kebe will all be having their agents pissing in their ears telling them they need to find a bigger club because without investment and already having lost Mills, the team is going to be a shadow of the one from last season.

[winchester_royal]

Well a bit disappointed that the skip has left for another championship side, but as we all know Reading will no doubt use the money they have received wisely, and invest it into the team, we might have lost our first choice centre back pairing from the run in that propelled us into the play-offs last season, plus our other specialist centre back in Ingi, but i am sure our 2 remaing centre backs, regular sub Pearce and the previously unused, ex relegated, Swindon Town centre half Morrison, will provide adequate cover next year.

Hilarious.

[Royal Rother]

What it does demonstrate, however; is a declaration of intent by that football club.

The only intent that they are declaring with this particular purchase is that they intend to over pay for reasonable but not that good players on the basis of their performances on TV in the big games.

That's your opinion, mate.
The point I was making was that those games are more likely to be sold out (even if on telly) as a consequence of that declaration of intent.
More seats sold + more corporate money = less requirement on quality player sales to balance the books.

Fans might like a declaration of intent for a few weeks but it damned soon fades into irrelevance when results don't go their way....

It seems reasonable to assume that Leicester will be spending £20m and an additional £100k per week on wages. (Maybe it'll end up being more than that.)

They need to get a lot of fans in to cover that every week - even including merchandise income from those in attendance it could be as many as 15,000 extra fans for every home game.

With a capacity of 32,000 they can only get another 8,000 in on top of last season's gates.

And as the cutbacks bite harder are they likely to even fill the ground every week for Championship football? I doubt it personally.

And what happens if, as many sane people seem to think, Sven doesn't actually know what it takes to get out of the Championship, the gamble doesn't come off and they fail to go up - what happens then?

Pah! Their wonderful declaration of intent won't be worth a jizz.

And another thing - if RFC was not run in a sensible and prudent way, would we have held out as long as we did and got such a brilliant deal on Mills? No way. Clubs who need the money are far less likely to get top fees. It is no coincidence that we generally get top dollar for our players when they leave. Yes, I'm sure it's good work from Hammond but it's also because we are never desperate to sell, never desperate for the money.

That good financial management of the last few years pays dividends in these situations and it will be self-perpetuating as little by little all the deficits are wiped out and we give ourselves a stronger and stronger negotiating hand, just as, at the same time, other clubs take themselves deeper into dodgy waters and weaker positions. Okay those other clubs might not receive adequate punishment when it all goes tits up, but I'd rather be in our position.

[leicsRoyal]

^^^ great post

[The Prisoner]

LOL at all the bull about Leicester showing their ambition. They are not getting a prem income and someone, somewhere is clearly putting a shed load of cash in.

Boro last close season did the same thing, but a load of new players seldom gel quickly and there will huge pressure on them.

It is one hell of a gamble, and could see their backers throw their toys out of the pram big style if it doesn't pay instant dividends.

If they don't start the season like a train Sven will be out in 10 games, and with their constant desire to sign "names" and usually expensive "names" often on loan I wouldn't bet against it.

Good luck Matt. You might need it. See ya.

[sandman]

You're right. They should show their ambition by selling their best players every summer like well run clubs do.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

Rother, as always, you post some excellent points. The point about us getting top dollar because we are not in need of cash is impossible to argue against.

Counter to this though is expectation; as fans we love the ins and outs of the close season and how the dealings will affect the coming campaign. But the timbre of the soundbites coming from the club have a depressing influence, not the whippimg excitement that we are going to be next season's world beaters (regardless of whether true or not). Every close season is now a time of trepidation, and it totally saps my enthusIasm.

This is an entertainment business after all, but I feel no interest in the product whatsoever.

I know is may be just me, but I can't pretend to feel even the remotest bit excited about the forthcoming season.

[howser]

[quote="winchester_royal"][quote="howser"]Well a bit disappointed that the skip has left for another championship side, but as we all know Reading will no doubt use the money they have received wisely, and invest it into the team, we might have lost our first choice centre back pairing from the run in that propelled us into the play-offs last season, plus our other specialist centre back in Ingi, but i am sure our 2 remaing centre backs, regular sub Pearce and the previously unused, ex relegated, Swindon Town centre half Morrison, will provide adequate cover next year.[/quote]

Hilarious.[/quote]


Winchester, pleased you spotted the humour in it, we will be ok McD will be given the minimal financial assistance to sort out for next year and he will, no doubt, spin his magic again. But you do have to wonder how many more shortfalls, that need to be filled, are going to be found before the end of August though dont you ??

[West Stand Man]

loving fester fans at the moment.. calling us fickle and plastic for slagging mills off and thinking theyve won the league already. how they came to the conclusion hes a premier league CB ill have no idea, hammond is a marketing genius!!!

theyll soon forgive bamba when they see how slow mills is

.. and another brain-dead idiot joins the fray.

[RoyalJames101]

A fantastic player some days, a terrible one on another. Cardiff and Everton away showed that he could easily be in the Premiership. Ipswich and Sheffield United at home showed that he's no better than Championship.

Obviously disappointing to see the club captain leave to a team that finished below you in the league last year, but it's football I guess. If you worked in a newsagents, but then another newsagents next door came along and offered you the same job but with higher pay, you would take it.

£5 million is a fantastic deal for us, hopefully we spend a bit of it on two new CB's, although I think Pearce will be top notch next year.

[Kitsondinho]

You're right. They should show their ambition by selling their best players every summer like well run clubs do.

We haven't sold Long or Kebe yet....have we?

[sandman]

He's gone in Auauaugust Kebe, Kebe.

[Kitsondinho]

He's gone in Auauaugust Kebe, Kebe.

That's ok then....when you said best players I was worried Long and him had gone!

[leicsRoyal]

Leicester have acted quickly and brought out the new fans accessory following the signing of Matt Mills.


http://www.betterlifehealthcare.com/vie ... 84&which=1

[sandman]

Only d1ckhead Rofleading fans don't rate Mills because he rightly told the poor loves to Fuck off as Long and Howard should have done when they were booed and Hughes and Jones should have when they were getting abuse while playing for us.

Mills is one of the best CB's in the league as Jobi said on the radio earlier and McD is really pissed off about losing him but as usual Rofleading fans show their ability to make things up about players they have a personal dislike for.

[Woodcote Royal]

I have been involved in sales for most of my working life, and understand that sometimes the market needs stimulation. It's the reason for things like the January sales. You have to motivate people to part with even more of thier money, after they've spent too much on Christmas.
The shops do it for this reason.

I'm not asking for RFC to go out and sign Messi. I just want them, (and the party loyalists on here) to think about the concept that trading losses could also be soved by increased sales, not just reduced costs.

Send a signal out. Motivate the fan base, Motivate the corporates.
The slowly collapsing, self sufficient balloon isn't working.

If FA cup quarter finals and a playoff final don't motivate people, I can't see why spending 5 million on Mills would. People in Reading pay for Championship football and get good Championship football. That seems like a good deal to me. What's your evidence that self-sufficiency is a "slowly collapsing balloon"? More wishful thinking.

Those games did motivate people but they were the highlights. There was a lot of poor stuff before that and, despite finishing the season on a high, the floating support will be sceptical about ambition and our chances for next season given the transfer activity since then.

Feel free to list Leicester's highlights.

[sandman]

They didn't have any highlights hence why they are showing a willingness to improve instead of standing still.

[Pete10]

Sell your players no dam ambition utter oxf*rd rubbish . So pissed off with the club All on the cheap invest some money .

[Avon Royal]

Fans might like a declaration of intent for a few weeks but it damned soon fades into irrelevance when results don't go their way....

It seems reasonable to assume that Leicester will be spending £20m and an additional £100k per week on wages. (Maybe it'll end up being more than that.)

They need to get a lot of fans in to cover that every week - even including merchandise income from those in attendance it could be as many as 15,000 extra fans for every home game.

With a capacity of 32,000 they can only get another 8,000 in on top of last season's gates.

And as the cutbacks bite harder are they likely to even fill the ground every week for Championship football? I doubt it personally.

And what happens if, as many sane people seem to think, Sven doesn't actually know what it takes to get out of the Championship, the gamble doesn't come off and they fail to go up - what happens then?

Pah! Their wonderful declaration of intent won't be worth a jizz.

And another thing - if RFC was not run in a sensible and prudent way, would we have held out as long as we did and got such a brilliant deal on Mills? No way. Clubs who need the money are far less likely to get top fees. It is no coincidence that we generally get top dollar for our players when they leave. Yes, I'm sure it's good work from Hammond but it's also because we are never desperate to sell, never desperate for the money.

That good financial management of the last few years pays dividends in these situations and it will be self-perpetuating as little by little all the deficits are wiped out and we give ourselves a stronger and stronger negotiating hand, just as, at the same time, other clubs take themselves deeper into dodgy waters and weaker positions. Okay those other clubs might not receive adequate punishment when it all goes tits up, but I'd rather be in our position.

Better to try and fail than never try at all.

If RFC is run in such "a sensible and prudent way", how come their business model relies on selling their best assets every year just to balance the books?

[pea]

Does anyone else think that Leicester have spent a lot of money (inc. wages) on an awful lot of good/average championship players?

Danns was good for Palace but hardly stood out in their bottom of the table side, Nugent was extremely average as first choice Champ strikers go, Schmeichel was good but still conceding more goals than nearly any other keeper in the league, Peltier I rate highly but isn't anything better than a lot of Champ teams have, St Ledger was a great player but has gone off the rails a bit since he was loaned to Boro.

I think they'll be up there, but I don't think they've put themselves in a position of favourites by any means, they've spent a lot of money without adding much to their team that scares me. Especially when you consider the talent that they've lost from the last two seasons in the same space... fryatt, hobbs, naughton, van aanholt, some of their best players