Money

Tempest · August 06, 2013, 04:03:57 PM

Quite annoying how people equate PL safety to £'s spent. Steve Marlet anyone? Veron at Chelsea? Jeffers at Arsenal? 100's of similar stories. Money guarantees nothing, the right players played in the right formation & not out of position playing with passion and a touch of fire in their belly would be good. Can we just get the right players in please and if the right players are freebies then so be it.

Bassey the warrior · August 06, 2013, 04:08:51 PM

I think the point is we need some real quality and quality usually costs money.

Ordar · August 06, 2013, 04:10:42 PM

Very true. Although spending no money is very dangerous. The players we've brought in the close season are all superb pick ups though. Boateng and Amorebieta on frees were two of the top 10 free agents I reckon. Stekelenberg is an exceptional goalkeeper, easily one of the top 10 in the world. And Reither is quite rightly a fan favourite and should in my biased opinion have made the PL team of the year.

On the flip side to that, not all gaps can be plugged with the free agent market. I do feel if we manage to bring in Bent and Taarabt we'll be pretty set for the season. The LB issues can probably be put on hold, as we have Riise, Richardson, Briggs, Duff and Kavanagh who can all play there. RB could do with some cover, unless Hughes is going to be used for that. I think we have enough midfield options to cope with a couple injuries (obviously the quality wont be as high) Would be nice if Diarra could stay on a pay-as-you-play contract.

ToodlesMcToot · August 06, 2013, 04:15:59 PM

Quote from: Tempest on August 06, 2013, 04:03:57 PM
Quite annoying how people equate PL safety to £'s spent. Steve Marlet anyone? Veron at Chelsea? Jeffers at Arsenal? 100's of similar stories. Money guarantees nothing, the right players played in the right formation & not out of position playing with passion and a touch of fire in their belly would be good. Can we just get the right players in please and if the right players are freebies then so be it.

Well, as long as we understand that no one on this board is requiring the club to spend 10's of millions, then I think it's a fair discussion and pretty much has been. Of course, there'll be those hanging out on the extremes of the argument, but most are on one side or the other of a reasonable debate.

Bassey the warrior · August 06, 2013, 04:16:13 PM

Quote from: Ordar on August 06, 2013, 04:10:42 PM
Very true. Although spending no money is very dangerous. The players we've brought in the close season are all superb pick ups though. Boateng and Amorebieta on frees were two of the top 10 free agents I reckon. Stekelenberg is an exceptional goalkeeper, easily one of the top 10 in the world. And Reither is quite rightly a fan favourite and should in my biased opinion have made the PL team of the year.

On the flip side to that, not all gaps can be plugged with the free agent market. I do feel if we manage to bring in Bent and Taarabt we'll be pretty set for the season. The LB issues can probably be put on hold, as we have Riise, Richardson, Briggs, Duff and Kavanagh who can all play there. RB could do with some cover, unless Hughes is going to be used for that. I think we have enough midfield options to cope with a couple injuries (obviously the quality wont be as high) Would be nice if Diarra could stay on a pay-as-you-play contract.

Think you're being rather kind to Duff and Briggs. Neither are good enough at left back. Riise is very slow, too slow for an attacking full back and Richardson has had a lot of injury problems. I think we do need a new left back.

rusty shackleford · August 06, 2013, 04:17:27 PM

I still think Riise is our best left back. Im more happy with him starting over Richardson and Briggs anyway

Tempest · August 06, 2013, 04:20:21 PM

Disagree, quality is out there, untapped leagues all round the world and I don't believe there aren't 5 players in the whole of league 1 & 2 who couldn't make the step up to the PL now. Players in the past, Rush, Aldridge etc came from Chester and Oxford (probably!) its just not the sexy thing to do.

Not one player in League 2 in Spain or France that doesn't have the ability to make the step up to PL now? Don't believe that personally. And if that is the case then football is in a shocking state.

Captain Fulhamerica · August 06, 2013, 05:07:48 PM

Quote from: Tempest on August 06, 2013, 04:20:21 PM
Disagree, quality is out there, untapped leagues all round the world and I don't believe there aren't 5 players in the whole of league 1 & 2 who couldn't make the step up to the PL now. Players in the past, Rush, Aldridge etc came from Chester and Oxford (probably!) its just not the sexy thing to do.

Not one player in League 2 in Spain or France that doesn't have the ability to make the step up to PL now? Don't believe that personally. And if that is the case then football is in a shocking state.

I think I take your point here, but what percentage of lower league players can make the jump to PL regular? 1-2%? The issue is finding these players. The club might have to take on 15-20 players before one breaks through into the first team. That type of strategy requires significant infrastructure investment (facilities, coaching, salaries, staff, etc.). This is difficult to justify when the club already has a top level youth development academy.

When you spend money on a top level player you are doing so because you believe that player has a much better chance of becoming a first-team regular, maybe 60-80% for a top signing. In a sense, the transfer fee paid for the player is the avoided cost of developing the player at your own club.

Jimpav · August 06, 2013, 09:01:43 PM

We do seem to do better out of hidden gems and rough diamonds than we do with our marquee signings.

Riether, Hangeland, Smalling, Dempsey, Dembele, Schwarzer, Saha, Zamora, Bullard have all been low cost or free signings. We have made a profit on all of these players that we have sold.

Compare these to the success of AJ, Marlet and Ruiz and its apparent that we have more success on taking a gamble on lesser known or out of favour bargains.

jarv · August 06, 2013, 09:54:57 PM

Did we actually pay for Richardson. ??

nickmuir · August 06, 2013, 10:10:50 PM

Quote from: jarv on August 06, 2013, 09:54:57 PM
Did we actually pay for Richardson. ??

yes i think we payed 2 to 4m

Bassey the warrior · August 06, 2013, 10:27:30 PM

Quote from: Tempest on August 06, 2013, 04:20:21 PM
Disagree, quality is out there, untapped leagues all round the world and I don't believe there aren't 5 players in the whole of league 1 & 2 who couldn't make the step up to the PL now. Players in the past, Rush, Aldridge etc came from Chester and Oxford (probably!) its just not the sexy thing to do.

Not one player in League 2 in Spain or France that doesn't have the ability to make the step up to PL now? Don't believe that personally. And if that is the case then football is in a shocking state.

I think the Primera Liga is a great place to buy players from at the moment. Lots of clubs are in economic crisis. Problem I suppose is how different the league is in terms of physicality.

fulham traveller · August 07, 2013, 12:20:47 AM

you still need to invest money to get quality players, you don't get quality players on a free

Lighthouse · August 07, 2013, 12:34:49 AM

Why do we think it is either QPR level of spending or little spending and sell your best players like Fulham. There has to be a middle ground. We have a chairman with money that doesn't want it wasted. No danger of threatening that with us. Or you need a clever manager that can make a wonderful team without stars. Ner we haven't one of those.

A little investment now and we can be very good. More investment and we could be top 6 or close. This squad with a couple of improvements is still middle at best.

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Ordar