The Great Escape

[Wimb]

established lower league players we could be looking at

the club cant win!

Rhodes cost £5 mill it works sell at £12/15 mill similar profit, some players worth the risk IMHO

lol at gambling 5 million quid on quite a big risk , to only double your money, only if it all works out and he performs, and even then we could still have gone down

TBF Brend you can have both, it's not one or the other. I like the club making sensible low risk/high reward signings like Akpan but it could do wonders for morale and our survival prospects to bring in somebody more established. Look at the impact Roberts had.

Rhodes was a massive gamble, however it's one that we could have afforded and looked a sensible risk, albeit at a price slightly higher than I thought he'd go for.

[cmonurz]

Likewise Zaha. A gamble, but a statement, and a player of better quality than we had. Now he's probably off to United.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

established lower league players we could be looking at

the club cant win!

Rhodes cost £5 mill it works sell at £12/15 mill similar profit, some players worth the risk IMHO

lol at gambling 5 million quid on quite a big risk , to only double your money, only if it all works out and he performs, and even then we could still have gone down

TBF Brend you can have both, it's not one or the other. I like the club making sensible low risk/high reward signings like Akpan but it could do wonders for morale and our survival prospects to bring in somebody more established. Look at the impact Roberts had.

Rhodes was a massive gamble, however it's one that we could have afforded and looked a sensible risk, albeit at a price slightly higher than I thought he'd go for.

Difference is he might have come to us rather than Blackburn to play at prem level, so we might have got him for a bit less, though slightly higher wages tha he gets at Blackburn. Add on the fact that there would be a sell on clause for the future and everone might have won.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

established lower league players we could be looking at

the club cant win!

Rhodes cost £5 mill it works sell at £12/15 mill similar profit, some players worth the risk IMHO

lol at gambling 5 million quid on quite a big risk , to only double your money, only if it all works out and he performs, and even then we could still have gone down

TBF Brend you can have both, it's not one or the other. I like the club making sensible low risk/high reward signings like Akpan but it could do wonders for morale and our survival prospects to bring in somebody more established. Look at the impact Roberts had.

Rhodes was a massive gamble, however it's one that we could have afforded and looked a sensible risk, albeit at a price slightly higher than I thought he'd go for.

Agreed, except the potential problem comes that a "marquee signing"/statement of intent or whatever you call it is likely to be on much higher wages than the other players and then you have all the grief and stresses that we're seeing with Alex Pearce - only more so!

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

[melonhead]

Likewise Zaha. A gamble, but a statement, and a player of better quality than we had. Now he's probably off to United.

still unproven, and inconsistent track record, very short period of sustained achievement

id back ferguson to get the best out of him above most others, but still.....






much happier we pay what we can afford for players that will improve the team and squad getting gradually better over time
thats real football management. imo

[Royalclapper]

Rhodes may have been a bit risky at his price point being that he was from League 1. Given the current scoring form of Pog and Alf though, can't say that I'd swap atm (might have earlier on this season mind you). If I were an oppo fan for instance, I'd consider them a fairly reasonable threat even when you look at our league position.

It's shoddy full-backs and ineffective wingers/midfield supply that's probably of most concern.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

Agreed- but the going rate isn't fixed - a high rate for one player also drags up the going rate for everyone.

[Ian Royal]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

According to many we don't pay the going rate and we're doing pretty well for it, so that seems a bit of a nonsense argument. It might make it difficult to stay in the PL beyond a season or two, but it's certainly not stopping us getting there. And I think largely we do pay (towards the bottom of it maybe) the going rate.

[Millsy]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

So obviously true.

How can paying towards he bottom of the going rate be the going rate? It ain't. It's below the going rate.

And thus we deserve to go down. And we are.

Simples.

[philM]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

How can paying towards he bottom of the going rate be the going rate? It ain't. It's below the going rate.

Simples.

If the going rate is between £x and £y, and we pay £x plus a little bit more.

Simples.

[Ian Royal]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

How can paying towards he bottom of the going rate be the going rate? It ain't. It's below the going rate.

Simples.

If the going rate is between £x and £y, and we pay £x plus a little bit more.

Simples.

And the going rate for van Persie is going to be quite different to the going rate for Joe Allen which is going to be quite different to the going rate for Ashley Williams. All of whom are Premier League players who are playing in teams safe from relegation.

[RoyalBlue]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

According to many we don't pay the going rate and we're doing pretty well for it, so that seems a bit of a nonsense argument. It might make it difficult to stay in the PL beyond a season or two, but it's certainly not stopping us getting there. And I think largely we do pay (towards the bottom of it maybe) the going rate.

Pretty well? Are you holding the table upside down? No way is it a nonsense argument. It cost us last time around and, as you acknowledge, is also likely to cost us this time around. And each time we return to the Championship it is likely to make it a little bit more difficult to get back up as we offload class players to balance the books and struggle to sign decent replacements because fees and wages are perceived by the club to be too high.

[Franchise FC]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

According to many we don't pay the going rate and we're doing pretty well for it, so that seems a bit of a nonsense argument. It might make it difficult to stay in the PL beyond a season or two, but it's certainly not stopping us getting there. And I think largely we do pay (towards the bottom of it maybe) the going rate.

Pretty well? Are you holding the table upside down? No way is it a nonsense argument. It cost us last time around and, as you acknowledge, is also likely to cost us this time around. And each time we return to the Championship it is likely to make it a little bit more difficult to get back up as we offload class players to balance the books and struggle to sign decent replacements because fees and wages are perceived by the club to be too high.

It took us 135 years to get up in the first place and only 4 years to get back up - that doesn't sound like it's much more difficult than before

[Cypry]

we have to pay the going rate, if we dont then we may as well give up. Like it or not that is the truth.

According to many we don't pay the going rate and we're doing pretty well for it, so that seems a bit of a nonsense argument. It might make it difficult to stay in the PL beyond a season or two, but it's certainly not stopping us getting there. And I think largely we do pay (towards the bottom of it maybe) the going rate.

Pretty well? Are you holding the table upside down? No way is it a nonsense argument. It cost us last time around and, as you acknowledge, is also likely to cost us this time around. And each time we return to the Championship it is likely to make it a little bit more difficult to get back up as we offload class players to balance the books and struggle to sign decent replacements because fees and wages are perceived by the club to be too high.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is one thing that TSI said would NOT need to happen in future.....I guess some players might leave for their own reasons if offered opportunities elsewhere, but I don't expect to see players offloaded to fill "black holes"...

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

I doubt there will be too much of a black hole this time around, I hope not as we dont have any players to fill a £10mill hole, for example.

I do trust Hammond to have once again got players on deals with relegation clauses in them, unlike clubs like QPR, who have players on 40k plus a week without them.

[Big Ern]

A win against Newsacstle and nothing less is required for the great escape. We have no margin for error so any game against the bottom six will require a positive result.

[BonBoh]

Can we pull it off and stay up?

with a few extra blue pills it might just happen...

[SPARTA]

As it stands we are bottom and QPR are two points off safety.

McBirdmott's tactics spot on again.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

SPARTA wrote: As it stands we are bottom and QPR are two points off safety.

McBirdmott's tactics spot on again.

Not now, oh Adam Le Fondre!!