The Model Works


This is the issue. Fans want success now now now and who can blame them. Unfortunately, short-termism got us to our lowest point in 140 years of existence. It’s a fine balance. And one that’s going to split opinion as to where the tipping point is.

Short term investment didmt
Get us relegated and in the worst situation ever.
The lack of investment did.
Our players we bought were cheap and worthless.
The management of the clubs was appalling. No team should ever come out of that league and be relegated with the financial support from parachute payments.
The club had terminal cancer at that time.
 
For the model to work, recruitment needs to be very good. Thankfully, Harvey and Speakman seem to know what they are doing. There are no guarantees in life but it is the best one for our situation, financially and geographically. We can't pay silly money or offer a location in That There London. Conversely, those two factors will help us to sift out a lot of charlatans and bluffers.
 
Short term investment didmt
Get us relegated and in the worst situation ever.
The lack of investment did.
Our players we bought were cheap and worthless.
The management of the clubs was appalling. No team should ever come out of that league and be relegated with the financial support from parachute payments.
The club had terminal cancer at that time.
Because it overspent on transfers and wages. Didn’t make a profit on anyone. Then the owner got sick of writing off an 8 figure loss every 12 months.
 
Because it overspent on transfers and wages. Didn’t make a profit on anyone. Then the owner got sick of writing off an 8 figure loss every 12 months.
Incorrect.
That final season of n the prem we spent nothing.
Despite smashing our transfer record we got him very cheap on wages hence he was very poor quality.
We were in a similar position refusing the pay the market rate.
Remember Mvilla? Desperate to come but we wouldn’t pay.
Yes we overpaid on cattermole which was criticised at the time but we invested in players no one else wanted. Who were cheap and low wages.
The only difference to today would s the age.

If we were to get promoted with this team would we survive? Chances are probably not. You need to invest your money with quality.
This model may work with a balance of investment and youth but that balance is what every club in the world are trying to master.
 
Incorrect.
That final season of n the prem we spent nothing.
Despite smashing our transfer record we got him very cheap on wages hence he was very poor quality.
We were in a similar position refusing the pay the market rate.
Remember Mvilla? Desperate to come but we wouldn’t pay.
Yes we overpaid on cattermole which was criticised at the time but we invested in players no one else wanted. Who were cheap and low wages.
The only difference to today would s the age.

If we were to get promoted with this team would we survive? Chances are probably not. You need to invest your money with quality.
This model may work with a balance of investment and youth but that balance is what every club in the world are trying to master.
Good post. Many supporters love this fresh approach but to get on the top table, as you say, you need quality and not just potential. We have potential in bucket loads as do Brentford, Brighton. Then you look at Leicester and Southampton. All the top teams spend lots of money. The issue is whether or not our present owner, if the club was to get promoted, would be willing to spend to maintain us in the Premiership or are we going for the developmental academy model to be a feed for all the other clubs in a position to poach our players?
 
Were they signed when the owner bought the club?


The model only works off the pitch, not on it...

No surprises that you have it completely the wrong way round.

This club is running it's "on the pitch" core business extremely well.

It's all the off the pitch nonsense - the stadium, club shop, ticketing, general administration - that is piss poor at the moment.
Good post. Many supporters love this fresh approach but to get on the top table, as you say, you need quality and not just potential. We have potential in bucket loads as do Brentford, Brighton. Then you look at Leicester and Southampton. All the top teams spend lots of money. The issue is whether or not our present owner, if the club was to get promoted, would be willing to spend to maintain us in the Premiership or are we going for the developmental academy model to be a feed for all the other clubs in a position to poach our players?
At the end of the day, outside of about three or four clubs, you are always a "developmental academy" for someone.

Borussia Dortmund, for example, are clearly a hothouse of European talent, developing them for the likes of City, United and Madrid.

This is a genuine long-term strategy for us as a club. Of course there is a ceiling - Brighton are not going to challenge for the Premier League. But they may challenge for the FA Cup and, on occassion - they've a chance this year I think - they will have a tilt at Europe and even the 4th spot.

If that ends up being our ceiling, I'd be f***ing delighted.
From memory yes there was a crossover period where KLD wasn’t in full control but Speakman (& I think Johnson) were hired
Speakman signed Roberts. They also signed Stewart, but he'd been scouted by the old regime.
 
Last edited:
Incorrect.
That final season of n the prem we spent nothing.
Despite smashing our transfer record we got him very cheap on wages hence he was very poor quality.
We were in a similar position refusing the pay the market rate.
Remember Mvilla? Desperate to come but we wouldn’t pay.
Yes we overpaid on cattermole which was criticised at the time but we invested in players no one else wanted. Who were cheap and low wages.
The only difference to today would s the age.

If we were to get promoted with this team would we survive? Chances are probably not. You need to invest your money with quality.
This model may work with a balance of investment and youth but that balance is what every club in the world are trying to master.

We lost over 30m quid if memory serves.
 
Incorrect.
That final season of n the prem we spent nothing.
Despite smashing our transfer record we got him very cheap on wages hence he was very poor quality.
We were in a similar position refusing the pay the market rate.
Over £35m in transfer fees that season. And then bumped the likes of Kone up to £60‐70k pw on a 5 year contract.
 
Incorrect.
That final season of n the prem we spent nothing.
Despite smashing our transfer record we got him very cheap on wages hence he was very poor quality.
We were in a similar position refusing the pay the market rate.
Remember Mvilla? Desperate to come but we wouldn’t pay.
Yes we overpaid on cattermole which was criticised at the time but we invested in players no one else wanted. Who were cheap and low wages.
The only difference to today would s the age.

If we were to get promoted with this team would we survive? Chances are probably not. You need to invest your money with quality.
This model may work with a balance of investment and youth but that balance is what every club in the world are trying to master.
“We spent nothing but we also broke our transfer record” an oxymoron is ever I saw one.

The owner spent hundreds of millions of pounds and then got bored. We can’t repeat that again. Which is what some seemingly want
 
Over £35m in transfer fees that season. And then bumped the likes of Kone up to £60‐70k pw on a 5 year contract.

And how much did we make with the tv and league money for that year alone never mind the three years after.
Swamps the 35 million.
 
Short term investment didmt
Get us relegated and in the worst situation ever.
The lack of investment did.
Our players we bought were cheap and worthless.
The management of the clubs was appalling. No team should ever come out of that league and be relegated with the financial support from parachute payments.
The club had terminal cancer at that time.

It was 100% short-termism like. How many players did we buy whilst in The Premier League for 10 years that were sold on for a profit?

We had no money and in massive debt because we were in a constant panic to try and fix what was going on at present, and deal with the future when we get to it. Signing has-beens and taking risks on veterans with little to no resale value meant we had no money to make signings in the future and left us scraping the barrel and then in massive debt once we were eventually relegated despite the huge funds received from The Premier League.

It's the same as Everton now. Short term thinking signing the likes of Maupay, Gueye, Tarkowski, Gray, Allan, Doucoure etc. etc. to try and help them for a season with the idea of "pushing on from there" the season after once they avoid relegation or scrape a top half finish. Everton are fucked because they have no long term vision and so the inevitable will eventually come - everyone knows it, and everyone expects it. The similarities between Everton and ourselves of 2016 is canny staggering.
 
It was 100% short-termism like. How many players did we buy whilst in The Premier League for 10 years that were sold on for a profit?

We had no money and in massive debt because we were in a constant panic to try and fix what was going on at present, and deal with the future when we get to it. Signing has-beens and taking risks on veterans with little to no resale value meant we had no money to make signings in the future and left us scraping the barrel and then in massive debt once we were eventually relegated despite the huge funds received from The Premier League.

It's the same as Everton now. Short term thinking signing the likes of Maupay, Gueye, Tarkowski, Gray, Allan, Doucoure etc. etc. to try and help them for a season with the idea of "pushing on from there" the season after once they avoid relegation or scrape a top half finish. Everton are fucked because they have no long term vision and so the inevitable will eventually come - everyone knows it, and everyone expects it. The similarities between Everton and ourselves of 2016 is canny staggering.

I don’t disagree.
What I am suggesting we are if similar ilk.
Buying cheap unproven players with fingers crossed it will work.
You need to invest in quality players with a mix of youth.

Don’t forget the Everton you quoted sold a forward we wanted but couldn’t afford.
 
I don’t disagree.
What I am suggesting we are if similar ilk.
Buying cheap unproven players with fingers crossed it will work.
You need to invest in quality players with a mix of youth.

Don’t forget the Everton you quoted sold a forward we wanted but couldn’t afford.

Who's to say we couldn't afford him? I thought we could afford him but thought his valuation was too high. I'm sure our fee for Rusyn is more than Simms' upfront fee.

5 games and 0 goals for Coventry who matched his valuation. Early signs aren't promising for them.

I was gutted that we didn't go for him by the way, but happy that the club is confident enough not to overpay (or overpay in comparison to their valuation) and don't instantly hit the panic stations.
 
The truth is we do not know how far the model can take us yet.

Its worked very well so far but as I've said before, in my lifetime (I'm 50) it feels like we have generally been a 2nd Division/1st division yoyo club.

Bob managed yoyo from taking over a mismanaged mess and while operating on limited budget while everyone was heavily getting into debt.

So far all is good with KLD and Speakman, we are on the right track for sure. But as far as I'm concerned the minimum they should achieve is yo yo again as that has historically proved fairly easy for a club of our size.
 
Last edited:
The model is thoroughly enjoyable at the moment. But whether it works or not will be proven in a year or two.

We’re the biggest club in this league by a mile (not the richest - the biggest). At some point we need to flex our muscles
 
The model is thoroughly enjoyable at the moment. But whether it works or not will be proven in a year or two.

We’re the biggest club in this league by a mile (not the richest - the biggest). At some point we need to flex our muscles
You mean our financial muscle like Man City have done to buy themselves the Premier tile and other trophies?
 
Who's to say we couldn't afford him? I thought we could afford him but thought his valuation was too high. I'm sure our fee for Rusyn is more than Simms' upfront fee.

5 games and 0 goals for Coventry who matched his valuation. Early signs aren't promising for them.

I was gutted that we didn't go for him by the way, but happy that the club is confident enough not to overpay (or overpay in comparison to their valuation) and don't instantly hit the panic stations.

You are missing my point.
Of course he wasn't worth the money but Everton got rid. They are piss poor this season but a host of championship clubs were swooning.
In the prem, you need much better.

Much better than we bought in our final year.
 
You are missing my point.
Of course he wasn't worth the money but Everton got rid. They are piss poor this season but a host of championship clubs were swooning.
In the prem, you need much better.

Much better than we bought in our final year.

So it's short-termism getting rid of a young talents (they sold Cannon too) for relatively very low fees who they could have easily held on to just so they can get through FFP and bring in some players that can get them out of the shit at the present. No thought of the future - just hoping to stay up (again) this season.

 

Back
Top