30 Aug 2015 10:54:02
I like most fans am disappointed once again not to be in the champions league but we are at a level just now where we do need to balance the books as zero serious cash to be made in Scottish football when you see the cash being splashed about in the English championship by so called minnows of world football how can we compete and expect to have the God given right to qualify every season with one hand tied behind our back. All the blame the board brigade may have a point but what is our exact profit after we deduct our running costs it isn't massive amounts. You listen to the Hugh keevins of the world salivating and rejoicing we didn't qualify just so they can have their free kick in at us but look at the cash Southampton and West ham splashed the last few years and both bumped out of Europe by nobodies? So I am just feeling a bit realistic and hopeful additions like Tyler blackstock will get us to a level for next season where we can finally get back to the top table again.
30 Aug 2015 11:29:59
Has it not crossed your mind that perhaps spending a bit more on quality over quantity might get us £30m for getting into the CL? Speculate to accumulate. Not every player we sign for £1-2m is going to develop and go for big bucks. In fact very few will.
30 Aug 2015 11:56:28
I don't think anyone is suggesting we spend money the way they do in England, that is just not possible, and I am not sure it would be right even if we were in that league.
My view is though that we could do more than we are doing. Surely to it should be possible to at least try and keep the same level year on year, and if possible try and improve, it's only what every other club tries to do.
There is no argument from me about developing young players, but at times you need to sign players who are more their finished article.
For example, we badly need a striker
30 Aug 2015 12:04:36
Yet another post excusing the board and moaning about the lack of income available. CL cash is not some fictious amount, it is available every season. We don't have a God given right to be in it every year, but we do have a duty to try. We are a business, but this is the business we are in, like all our competitors. If you ran a pub, it is likely that there will be others around you, you have to work at making your pub better than the others or your business will suffer.
The reality is that most clubs comparible to ours, who get there on a regular basis, perpetuate being there by CL money, a higher profile and being able to attract better players. The CL was started to help the rich get richer, we know the top half dozen teams will generally provide the winner every year and don't give a rats arse about anyone else. It has many, many flaws but it IS the only game in town, because the alternative is what?
30 Aug 2015 12:15:26
Sorry I sent my reply too early.
I was going to say that in my opinion we badly need a striker, I don't think we can just sign a youngster who might be good in 2 or 3 years, we need it now.
It's all about mixing the two, we now don't want to sign anyone unless they are raw youngsters who may be good in the future, we have to try and keep our levels up while we are working on the youngsters.
That's really all the fans want, we're not stupid, but we just want to see the same standard from one year to the next, and if possible see a slight improvement, when clubs like Malmo can do this, then I can't see how a club of our size can't at least do the same.
30 Aug 2015 13:19:25
You do need a balance Gerry. Players who have experience of negotiating the qualifiers or something similar. We can't be a constant work in progress and expect to get to the CL.
30 Aug 2015 13:57:15
Chasaboy,It's wrong to compare a business like a football club,to running a pub,football is a separate entity,a business like no other.
And with all respect people like us on the outside can only guess and speculate as to what goes on behind the scenes.
I know there is a need to invest,but at what cost? Give the manager a chance he has only been here for one season, and is trying to develop his strategy on the club and it needs time,time is something we do have a little of at the moment,
If sevco had not been relegated to the bottom tier of Scottish football, we probably wouldn't have had that time and its anyone's guess where that would have led us.
They will be back,probably next season,and I suspect that is what the glib and shameless one is keeping his wallet closed for,all these loan players have to go back to their clubs.
New ones will have to come in,and don't forget Aberdeen and Hearts are improving all the time,so it might not be Champions League we only have to be concerned about.So I would say give RD a bit more time and see where it takes us.HH
30 Aug 2015 15:00:20
I think some are missing my point I just see our club at a cross roads and the balancing act seems to be we have enough domestically but not enough internationally for Europe I so think the point of quality over quantity is valid Yeh why go for 5 mediocre 2 million players instead of potentially 2 5 million players but with 5 million players comes big wages and does a big club but a big club in Scotland have it in there structure to have 3. 4. 5 times 5 million players on big money and the rest of the squad on average wages. Would that keep a happy squad? This is what I mean not board bashing or board backing just trying to be realistic to where our club currently sits financially? As seen just recently Sheffield Wednesday 10 million fir the more than average ross mcormack what chance do we have and as I said West ham and Southampton spent 60 million in last couple of seasons each and papped our of the Europa league by so called Diddy teams? So is spend spend spend the way to go?
{Ed007's Note - It's nothing to do with the fees, it's down to the wages we pay, look at Joe Ledley and Adam Matthews, two quality players we got on a bosman because we were offering them top dollar. Teams in England will take £2/3 million or what they call a nominal fee just to get players off their wage bill, there's nothing stopping CFC paying 2 or 3 players a bit more money in wages if they are the right quality to deserve it.
There's a massive difference in the quality of player £15 - 20k a week gets you compared to shopping in the £25 - 30k a week market, if you pay players enough then they will sign, money's all they care about.
Do you think Samuel Eto'o signed for Anzhi Makhachkala because he had always wanted to play in the Russian League or win the Russian title - or was it the £350k a week tax free they paid him?
Now I'm not for a minute suggesting we should be paying that kind of money but by the law of averages the better wages you pay the better player you get.
During the 2012-13 season the average wage in the EPL was £31,000 a week, are you telling me CFC didn't have the financial clout to offer that to one or 2 different players that would improve the team - the deal to take Jordan Rhodes to Blackburn was structured in such a way that the only guaranteed money Huddersfield would get was £4 million, the rest of the deal was made up of bonuses for meeting certain targets like Blackburn getting promoted, Rhodes topping the scoring charts etc etc.
John Park told Pedro that Finnbogason wasn't £3.5/4 million but Pukki was worth £3.2, Balde and Bangura at about £2m each along with the £2.3m on Scepovice, how much did loan fees for Miku, Lassad, Wakaso and Guidetti cost us?
Remember when it comes to transfer fees they aren't paid up in full, the fee is paid up in instalments over the duration of the contract, a £4 million player signed on a four-year-deal would cost the club £1million a season. It's a lot more complicated than that obviously but that's the jist of it when it comes to paying fees, we didn't get a cheque for £12.5 million for Wanyama or Forster, that's not how it works.}
30 Aug 2015 15:13:56
We'll probably just start signing every player the Rangers go for Costa.
30 Aug 2015 15:51:48
Costa, every business on the planet run on basically the same principle, progress or keep up with competitors in your sphere or watch them take your business while you go down the pan.
Also having the zombie Utd back in the mix won't bring in more in more than CL cash, as for Hearts and Aberdeen, do you really believe that they are improving that much. It much more a case of our standards dropping and as daft as it sounds, it actually feels as if we are being held back deliberately. No I,m not into conspiracy theories, but something is going sadly wrong.