Where's the 15 Million gone?

[Thunder Bolt]

My apologies. My memory is clearly wrong.

It was our wage bill that was £21m not the debt. I got the two muddled.
http://www.northstandchat.com/showt...hampionship-clubs-2012-13&highlight=wage+bill

 

[edna krabappel]

What do you think they teach them at Hendon?

Hendon? Jeez, I'm not THAT much of an ********, am I?

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

Was that 3 signings as well as the left back, or after the left back ?

If so it may well be the Irish right back, a premium striker, and a support striker ( Baldock) ?

I would imagine that Baldock would be considered by the club as THE premium striker. I would temper your expectations a little.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Hendon? Jeez, I'm not THAT much of an ********, am I?

<not ACTUALLY Hendon>

<She's not MET>

(Don't know what the Sussex mob college is called )

 

[Uncle Buck]

Stockdale is an excellent signing, and one that a number of other clubs would have fancied, I'd wager. I think he'll be great for us.

Hughes is a solid, dependable, experienced defender for very little investment. I like that kind of deal.

O'Grady is a hard working, honest sort who hopefully will chip in with a few goals even if he's not the 20 per season man we still require. As strikers go, he wasn't expensive & IMHO was well worth a punt at that price.

Holla- free but on one showing at least, appears as though he might be a gem.

Teixeira- ditto.

McCourt- a no-fee, low risk waged maverick sort who probably won't start every week but might occasionally be capable of providing the key to unlocking a game.

And we've spent less than £2m on that lot. I think that's a pretty good start to the season. More would be nice, but personally I'm not one who thinks the Big Name signing is the be all and end all in this league. Imagine the satisfaction if we did well on the back of all this upheaval in player terms. It would be brilliant (well I think so anyway). A huge up yours to the likes of Forest.

I understand where you are coming on from, but with the exception of Stockdale & Holla (and at this stage is he better than Bridcutt?) none are improvements (or many cases as good as) what they are replacing.

Also Stockdale is replacing a decent keeper and cost us a fee. Now I know that we should get a number of years out of Stockdale, where as his predecessor maybe had 2 or 3 seasons left.

 

[sparkie]

I would imagine that Baldock would be considered by the club as THE premium striker. I would temper your expectations a little.

*shudder*, I hope not.

Having said that, if the premium striker is good enough, we could probably make do with saving the money on a second striker, and not bother with Baldock.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

<not ACTUALLY Hendon>

<She's not MET>

(Don't know what the Sussex mob college is called )

It was called Boundstone back in my day

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I understand where you are coming on from, but with the exception of Stockdale & Holla (and at this stage is he better than Bridcutt?) none are improvements (or many cases as good as) what they are replacing.

Also Stockdale is replacing a decent keeper and cost us a fee. Now I know that we should get a number of years out of Stockdale, where as his predecessor maybe had 2 or 3 seasons left.

I'd say Hughes is on a par with (the EXCELLENT) Matt Upson, and I'd very much expect Teixeira to contribute more than Orlandi.

 

[casbom]

My apologies. My memory is clearly wrong.

Think your getting mixed up with the wage bill as opposed to the level of debt.

 

[TSB]

I would imagine that Baldock would be considered by the club as THE premium striker. I would temper your expectations a little.

He's not. Don't worry.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Think your getting mixed up with the wage bill as opposed to the level of debt.

Yes, I've already corrected myself with a link to the thread that El Pres posted up.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I'd say Hughes is on a par with (the EXCELLENT) Matt Upson, and I'd very much expect Teixeira to contribute more than Orlandi.

I am not sure you can compare the recently dropped Hughes with the undroppable Upson.

To contribute more than Orlandi would be to stay fit.

However I am not sure Ulloa, Barnes, Ward or Buckley have been replaced yet.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

He's not. Don't worry.

I hope you are right and I'm talking nonsense then. Baldock plus AN Other of 'premium' pedigree would very speedily deposit us smack in the middle of the promotion race.

 

[saafend_seagull]

I am not sure you can compare the recently dropped Hughes with the undroppable Upson.

To contribute more than Orlandi would be to stay fit.

However I am not sure Ulloa, Barnes, Ward or Buckley have been replaced yet.

I'd say they half have been replaced.

Barnes / O'Grady (Don't forget CMS/Hoskins were out the picture and we have CMS now too)
Buckley / McCourt

Ward - maybe this week
Ulloa - expecting a multi million pound signing from abroad with a similar price to Ulloa's original fee

 

[edna krabappel]

I understand where you are coming on from, but with the exception of Stockdale & Holla (and at this stage is he better than Bridcutt?) none are improvements (or many cases as good as) what they are replacing.

Also Stockdale is replacing a decent keeper and cost us a fee. Now I know that we should get a number of years out of Stockdale, where as his predecessor maybe had 2 or 3 seasons left.

Oh I hear you, and I certainly wasn't suggesting that we're anywhere near finished. I do happen to think Stockdale will be better than Kuszczak was last season. Also that Hughes, Dunk & Greer will quite adequately cover the loss of Upson. Ward- that was a shame but hopefully we have someone lined up.

Midfield- too early to judge. Last night they were superb, but I'm quite conscious it was simply one game. Buckley was consistently poor (or absent) last season so any loss is based on the player he was two seasons ago, and not the reality of what he's been in recent months. March was far better than him. But I'd agree we don't have a like for like replacement yet.

Strikers are clearly the area of concern, and you won't find me disputing that. I await news of incoming frontmen with interest.

 

[Billy the Fish]

*shudder*, I hope not.

Having said that, if the premium striker is good enough, we could probably make do with saving the money on a second striker, and not bother with Baldock.

Personally I don't think there's going to be a premium striker, not in the way you're thinking. I bet we won't pay any more than 2m for a player, and even then they'd need to be a dead cert. Chances are it won't happen.

 

[Diego Napier]

Written by pedantic prats like you, I think i'll give them a miss if it's all the same.

You're starting to make yourself look very silly now.

 

[Eeyore]

The history of the transfer market is littered with bargain buys and expensive errors. Just because the Albion's coffers have been swollen through various sales it doesn't follow that they should be buying up all and sundry, like a child spending their birthday money.

My concern is the quality of who arrives. The market is not like that of mobile phones, elasticated in a way that is proportionate to talent and facets. There are many players, worldwide, that perform a task for a fraction of the cost of many an established 'name'. It is a question of clever scouting and worthwhile contacts. We have seen teams such as Nottingham Forest spending vast sums on players who appear to be the key to progression, only to find out something to the contrary. We have seen teams do the opposite, and find success.

The Albion's history upholds this. Mike Small, recruited for, I think £50,000, was an unknown who would have sent NSC into meltdown. Yet he proved pivotal to our rise to play-offs in 90/91. CMS cost over £2 million. Was that, in hindsight, a wise investment economically ?

I'm not concerned about about the clubs reticence in spending large sums, I am concerned that the two remaining signings (left-back and forward ?) enhance the quality of the squad. The two latest signings, by all worthy accounts, bring that quality to the squad. Let's hope they are suitably followed up.

 

[chaileyjem]

However I am not sure Ulloa, Barnes, Ward or Buckley have been replaced yet.

Midfielders as far as i can tell are now complete for 14/15 so Buckley is replaced. We now have pretty much the same strength in terms of volume at least as last year...
Jury's out of course as to whether they are more "competitive"

Since last year we've sold or released
Andrews,Orlandi,Buckley, Lopez, and Bridcutt

But we've now bought / signed
Stephens, Toko, Holla, Teixiera, and now McCourt

we still have from 13/14 or before
KLL, Agustien, March, Ince, Crofts and er Bruno.

We don't have, i think, any more "midfielders" in their various varieties than last year despite all the jokes about a glut of em.
*barring the few months we had Conway due to our wingers being injured in Sept/Oct/Nov last season.

Defenders.

We've lost
Upson, El Abd and Ward in last year.
We've signed
Hughes, Bennett ?, + one more (Lenihan ?)

Calde, Bruno, Dunk, Greer, Maksimenko, Chicksen were here in 13/14 and still around for 14/15 although injured/loans came into play..

Up front

We've lost obviously
Barnes, Ulloa, Hoskins

We've signed
O Grady ...

We still have
Fenelon/CMS from before although of course they are now fit and here...

I therefore expect 1 more defender (if Bennett is coming) and 2 more forwards...to bring our squad to the 22/23 or so it was last year.
Assuming no more departures...

 

[chaileyjem]

I bet we won't pay any more than 2m for a player.

I'd say its almost inevitable that we will have to 2m+ for a new frontmen possibly 3m+ ...
Reports suggested we were happy to pay 1.5m+ for Grabban and Clayton . Clearly strikers are still targets and they don't come cheap.
What suggests we wouldn't be prepared to pay a big fee ?