Better or worse?

[eraser]

In Jan we need to find a couple of loan players like JonJo Kenny who are on the fringes of first team football at a higher level. I like Pep's philosophy and fokkus but he has been let down by DE as there clearly wasn't the finance available in the summer. The Millions in player sales and hike in ticket prices was not reinvested. Given the limited funds Pep had at short notice we're still in the mix.

 

[Marked Ox]

In Jan we need to find a couple of loan players like JonJo Kenny who are on the fringes of first team football at a higher level. I like Pep's philosophy and fokkus but he has been let down by DE as there clearly wasn't the finance available in the summer. The Millions in player sales and hike in ticket prices was not reinvested. Given the limited funds Pep had at short notice we're still in the mix.

If there was no finance available, how did we manage to agree a significant fee for Liam Lindsay which got scuppered by MApp leaving?

 

[holdsteady]

If we had money to spend why did we not go after anyone else? Was Liam Lindsay the only option over the whole transfer window?

Using that one player to say that funds were made available doesn’t really add up, no club at our level has just one target it is willing to spend money on, especially with the amount of players leaving over the summer.

If funds had been available then Clotet would of spent them, that’s what any manager would of in his position rather than signing players who he had to wait to get fit.

 

[WuTang]

If there was no finance available, how did we manage to agree a significant fee for Liam Lindsay which got scuppered by MApp leaving?

Smokescreen. DE reads this forum, he knows what rumours are bubbling over and what people are discussing. He's hit out at rumours before in the press, rather unprofessionally sometimes. At that time people were really starting to question the budgets and why MAPP left. All of a sudden there's a story about us bidding on Liam Lindsay. At the end of the day, we didn't spend it.

 

[Marked Ox]

Smokescreen. DE reads this forum, he knows what rumours are bubbling over and what people are discussing. He's hit out at rumours before in the press, rather unprofessionally sometimes. At that time people were really starting to question the budgets and why MAPP left. All of a sudden there's a story about us bidding on Liam Lindsay. At the end of the day, we didn't spend it.

That's one hell of a smokescreen considering Liam Lindsay was in the building to discuss terms and his club had agreed for him to do that. MApp left when that was happening, same day as Lindsay being at the club iirc, so people weren't discussing MApp leaving before the Lindsay transfer. So doesn't really fit with your point at all.

 

[Yellow River]

Pekalski was signed for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be 200k at the time if I remember correctly. So I believe some money was spent.


Going back to the original opening post, many people pre-season suggested that League 1 was stronger this season. From what I’ve witnessed so far I’d say it’s not as strong as last season. We are one of many bang average teams who could easily get sucked into a relegation battle with a run of bad results. Hopefully not us.

 

[Marked Ox]

If we had money to spend why did we not go after anyone else? Was Liam Lindsay the only option over the whole transfer window?

Using that one player to say that funds were made available doesn’t really add up, no club at our level has just one target it is willing to spend money on, especially with the amount of players leaving over the summer.

If funds had been available then Clotet would of spent them, that’s what any manager would of in his position rather than signing players who he had to wait to get fit.

According to Forest Green, we also made enquiries about Christian Doidge. Nobody knows how many others.

 

[WuTang]

That's one hell of a smokescreen considering Liam Lindsay was in the building to discuss terms and his club had agreed for him to do that. MApp left when that was happening, same day as Lindsay being at the club iirc, so people weren't discussing MApp leaving before the Lindsay transfer. So doesn't really fit with your point at all.

People weren't discussing it? It had pages and pages worth for weeks before. Majority knew he was off long before he officially exited. Fact is we didn't spend the money on LL, or his money on anyone else. Could have had Lionel Messi strolling around the building with a bid of £1bn accepted, the end result is the same.

 

[Marked Ox]

People weren't discussing it? It had pages and pages worth for weeks before. Majority knew he was off long before he officially exited. Fact is we didn't spend the money on LL, or his money on anyone else. Could have had Lionel Messi strolling around the building with a bid of £1bn accepted, the end result is the same.

Somebody should have told Liam Lindsay's agent then. The fact is we were at advanced stages to sign a player for significant money and the player said no due to MApp going (on the same day) otherwise we'd have had to pay out which would have been difficult with no money. And another fact as somebody else pointed out, we signed Pekalski for decent money.

Doesn't fit your theory though so you just ignore it.

 

[WuTang]

Somebody should have told Liam Lindsay's agent then. The fact is we were at advanced stages to sign a player for significant money and the player said no due to MApp going (on the same day) otherwise we'd have had to pay out which would have been difficult with no money. And another fact as somebody else pointed out, we signed Pekalski for decent money.

Doesn't fit your theory though so you just ignore it.

We funded Pekalski from the Sercombe sale, give or take the same value. And what am I ignoring exactly? My only point here is that we didn't spend the LL money, simple as that. Seems more like you're choosing to ignore that if anything. We all know the money was there to spend from the other player sales. DE made that clear by making LL deal public but alas it wasn't spent. Does that mean it can be used in January? Time will tell.

 

[BristolOx]

After 3 games I thought I’d seen a huge improvement and thought the league had stepped up...

Now I’m pretty sure it’s got worse. I feel like we aren’t playing well yet we’re still 9th.

 

[Robie]

900,000 euros for Gino is a fair whack of budget.

I don't get the desire to spend money for the sake of it. We are comfortably a way away from relegation and that sits fine with me.

 

[Marked Ox]

900,000 euros for Gino is a fair whack of budget.

I don't get the desire to spend money for the sake of it. We are comfortably a way away from relegation and that sits fine with me.

I'm hoping that definitely isn't 900k spent.

 

[Berliner]

We don't have to pay 900k do we? Thought that was just the option if we wanted him. He would have had to have had an enormous impact to justify that sort of sum, personally I think he'll be out the door in January even.

 

[Craig]

We don't have to pay 900k do we? Thought that was just the option if we wanted him. He would have had to have had an enormous impact to justify that sort of sum, personally I think he'll be out the door in January even.

Nah, we aren’t obligated to pay 900k for him, that was just the agreed fee if we do decide to make the move permanent. I don’t think that will happen personally, though Robie has a point, the money for that potential deal would surely have been held back in case Gino did incredibly well and the club decided to sign him. So he's right, that potential deal would have been budgeted even though it's not actually money spent at this point.

I don't understand the obsession with transfer fees. Yes, sometimes you need to pay to get the player you want but the vast majority of transfers in this league are feebies. Like it or not, that's how most League One teams operate in the transfer market. We aren't unique; we aren't the only team not spending millions on players. Admittedly it's not as glamorous or as exciting as reading a nice headline with plenty of 0's, but signing-on (relocation?) fees would have been a fair amount, too.

I think it has become more of an issue because Darryl released a statement saying that any potential extra revenue from season ticket sales would go towards the playing budget. That may have given people expectations. They were paying a lot more, so wanted to see a return on their money, if you like. I can understand that mentality to an extent. If Darryl had just said he was raising prices to keep them in line with the rest of the league and make us more sustainable as a club, people wouldn't have liked paying extra any more, but may have been a little more understanding. Just guesswork on my part.