Things can only get better

8, 7, 6 ....

More TV money means much more even playing field

Players who want to improve come to us

Players motivated only by money can leave

We are great at identifying new talent

We have shown we are robust to change at all levels

We have fantastic owners

We have a stable business model

Leicester have shattered the glass ceiling (after we put a big crack in it)

8, 7, 6 ....

More TV money means much more even playing field

Players who want to improve come to us

Players motivated only by money can leave

We are great at identifying new talent

We have shown we are robust to change at all levels

We have fantastic owners

We have a stable business model

Leicester have shattered the glass ceiling (after we put a big crack in it)

We will sign players who are interested in coming to the UK which are not good enough for the top 4 and the likes of who West Ham, Man Utd and Liverpool don't want.

Wages talk and we run a good steady ship.

With that Saints can get some good players in but it depends on how Koeman gets them playing to our system quickly.

As a club, we've never been in a stronger position in both stature, reputation and finances. We're run by people who are sensible, look to the long-term and plan accordingly. I think we're lucky as hell to be in the position we are and a lot of clubs will clearly be envious of how we're run both on and off the field.

If the worst does happen and Koeman does move on, then I have the trust that the people at the club will have already been planning for that scenario and will already have some incredibly high profile candidates shortlisted.

When you look at massive clubs such as Villa, Newcastle, Leeds and how they've been managed off the field, you start to realise just how lucky and fortunate we've been to end up with the setup we've got right now.

Any normal year players across the world would look at the league & see us in 6th spot and maybe think we're the next biggest club.

keep hearing about this even playing field.?

how so when we all get the TV money. Surely the differentiation that was there before, remains in place

unless we are getting more TV money than liverpool for example?

Because it means we all have lots of money. Some still have lots more yes, but that's more level than some have fck all isn't it.

Are you saying we had "fck all" money up to now?

keep hearing about this even playing field.?

how so when we all get the TV money. Surely the differentiation that was there before, remains in place

 

unless we are getting more TV money than liverpool for example?

Not even but at least more even.

Several teams have grounds loads bigger than ours and get more sponsorship. With TV money going - share pretty fairly - going through the roof this makes less difference.

Say we had half the non tv income of Spurs (say), if tv income goes up significantly we might have 90% of their income rather than 70%. (The figures are made up - I'm sure you get the point)

I remember it made quite a difference when home gate money stopped being shared in the early 80s for similar reasons - less Kevin Keegans and more Glenn cockerills.

Because it means we all have lots of money. Some still have lots more yes, but that's more level than some have fck all isn't it.

And it means we can buy our players from Feyenoord, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon and Athletico Madrid rather than Blackpool, Elfsborg and Skonto Riga (couple of guesses there but hopefully you get my drift!).

And it means we can buy our players from Feyenoord, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon and Athletico Madrid rather than Blackpool, Elfsborg and Skonto Riga (couple of guesses there but hopefully you get my drift!).

We're doing that now anyway.

And it means we can buy our players from Feyenoord, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon and Athletico Madrid rather than Blackpool, Elfsborg and Skonto Riga (couple of guesses there but hopefully you get my drift!).

We already do that and despite the new TV deal coming in. Players still want out 4 or 5 at a time

Where is this level playing field for us?

keep hearing about this even playing field.?

how so when we all get the TV money. Surely the differentiation that was there before, remains in place

 

unless we are getting more TV money than liverpool for example?

Surely it is FFP that will stop a level playing field?

We already do that and despite the new TV deal coming in. Players still want out 4 or 5 at a time

 

Where is this level playing field for us?

Players will leave for all kinds of reasons so it's not always about being on a level playing. This summer, it's likely that two will go because they can go to a bigger club and get paid three times more. Others will go because we don't want them or the player has an issue with the manager or role in side amongst other things.

We already do that and despite the new TV deal coming in. Players still want out 4 or 5 at a time

 

Where is this level playing field for us?

Chelsea have the keeper, striker, winger and CM wanting away. It's all about money & trophies so our club is no different to others.

keep hearing about this even playing field.?

how so when we all get the TV money. Surely the differentiation that was there before, remains in place

 

unless we are getting more TV money than liverpool for example?

We all get more compared to other leagues so more players want to come to the UK and the difference in skill levels narrows to the extent that a lot of itmes down to individual club and scout preferences

Can be seen most starkly by comparing Newcastles Liverpools and Man us spend spend over the last couple of years to Leicester the above situation is far more likely to happen when you have 20 clubs able to attract the worlds best

There is also a strong argument that up and coming good players will want to showboat their talent in the Uk and are now more likely to join say a top ten premier club than they would have done a few years ago where competition from Italy Spain Germany Rec was more intense

Players will leave for all kinds of reasons so it's not always about being on a level playing. This summer, it's likely that two will go because they can go to a bigger club and get paid three times more. Others will go because we don't want them or the player has an issue with the manager or role in side amongst other things.

I am sort of assuming that all three of the CA signing, and FF and VVD's willingness to sign new long-term contracts, are evidence that we have "broken" our traditional wage structure, and that this is at the heart of "the new way" at the club; ie that the increased TV money is going to wages, not transfer fees.

I suppose it goes without saying that wages are going to rise somewhat at the sub-elite clubs that have long outspent us in wages, but I suspect that for many of them, the new TV money is going to be seen as the "payoff" to their decade-plus of overspending, and not turned back around into the wage bill immediately.

In other words, I think the only player who would really dramatically increase his wages with a move, versus re-signing with us, is Sadio.

Mane is going to play some day for one of the five or so biggest clubs in the world; I just don't think any of them are going to meet our valuation of him this year based on the evidence of his form over the last eight games or so. And I think they would be right to hesitate. I am optimistic that he's going to come into the new season, at St. Mary's, realizing that he can't just turn it on over the last two months and make the jump to a club like Bayern, and have a superb, blue-chip season for us, especially in Europa. I hope he's smart enough to realize that sulking his way out over this offseason to move to a club like, say, West Ham or, oh, Lyon and then signing a new four- or five-year contract to do so, could trap him just as much in the long run. I feel like even though he may have a sulky tendency at times, in general he has made smart decisions about his career, and might be able to see that with the chance of a deep Europa run in the cards, he really is better off staying here. He'd be nuts to sign an extension though.

I wish i could see Tadic's late-season resurgence as anything other than evidence of the same 'play up to get the big boys interested' mentality. But it probably was. Anyone looking at his situation with us should keep in mind that he played two seasons at both Groningen and Twente before moving up to SFC; I also think the row with the Serbian FA does not speak well of his ability to get along behind the scenes. Though I am sure he believes he would, I don't imagine Tadic getting a much better payday than what we would offer him on an extension similar to VVD's; if we haven't done so, that's down to his back-room attitude, as he's surely he's earned it on the pitch. But if you look at where he's played, you have to suspect he hasn't earned enough over his career to feel like he's "set up" and at 27, his next contract has to be the big one. Like Sadio, I hope that being in the third year of a four-year deal would really put him in the right mind to turn in an amazing season, but I fear his mentality could make things much worse for us, if another club comes in with a serious offer. (I hate fearing the worst here, as he's probably my favorite player at the club right now. I should know better than to love a player who seems so likely to hurt me on the way out, but that's just the way it goes.)

As to Graziano, for him, much is riding on his performance this summer; he could make himself irresistible to one of the six or so Italian clubs that are clearly a step up from us. You cannot begrudge him taking the move home this year, or agitating for one; IMO we would be chumps to take anything less than 10M, even at his age, i think he's worth at least that much to us; I don't believe he is ever going to be a first-name-in-the-squad guy again for us, but he's proven he can be effective off the bench and play well "with the chip on his shoulder." (The amount of trash he comes in for on the board here, btw, infuriates me.) I think he stays, unless we do something stupid and part with RK over him not extending.

Wanyama seems a special case; I think he just really wants out of the south coast, no matter where; I don't think we're going to get a large offer but i feel like he isn't moving for a payday so much as a change of everything. The robbery sticks out in my memory, but there are probably a host of other things. It's going to hurt to see him in a once-every-three-games role at a club like Tottenham, but I truly think he's not extending and would likely decline next year even if he does. I doubt we would or should offer him a long deal in the same pay range as we've just given to VVD and Fraser; he probably does make more money elsewhere and I won't be angry at him leaving this offseason, just sad. People will remember the red cards, but only one of the three was really merited, for me; i think he has been unlucky in some ways but it does seem like he's reached the limits of how he is going to grow as a player and I don't think there's a premium on keeping him just because of his age; has he really gotten any better at reading the game or picking out a pass over the last three years? Modestly, if that.

Juanmi could and should go, we are better off with the roster space devoted to giving one of the academy attack players a chance to appear on the bench from time to time. A pity for him (and the black box) but he needs to be a full-time starter somewhere. Maybe we're better off loaning him out with a good chunk of the wages covered, than just selling him on?

I am sort of assuming that all three of the CA signing, and FF and VVD's willingness to sign new long-term contracts, are evidence that we have "broken" our traditional wage structure, and that this is at the heart of "the new way" at the club; ie that the increased TV money is going to wages, not transfer fees.

 

I suppose it goes without saying that wages are going to rise somewhat at the sub-elite clubs that have long outspent us in wages, but I suspect that for many of them, the new TV money is going to be seen as the "payoff" to their decade-plus of overspending, and not turned back around into the wage bill immediately.

 

In other words, I think the only player who would really dramatically increase his wages with a move, versus re-signing with us, is Sadio.

 

Mane is going to play some day for one of the five or so biggest clubs in the world; I just don't think any of them are going to meet our valuation of him this year based on the evidence of his form over the last eight games or so. And I think they would be right to hesitate. I am optimistic that he's going to come into the new season, at St. Mary's, realizing that he can't just turn it on over the last two months and make the jump to a club like Bayern, and have a superb, blue-chip season for us, especially in Europa. I hope he's smart enough to realize that sulking his way out over this offseason to move to a club like, say, West Ham or, oh, Lyon and then signing a new four- or five-year contract to do so, could trap him just as much in the long run. I feel like even though he may have a sulky tendency at times, in general he has made smart decisions about his career, and might be able to see that with the chance of a deep Europa run in the cards, he really is better off staying here. He'd be nuts to sign an extension though.

 

I wish i could see Tadic's late-season resurgence as anything other than evidence of the same 'play up to get the big boys interested' mentality. But it probably was. Anyone looking at his situation with us should keep in mind that he played two seasons at both Groningen and Twente before moving up to SFC; I also think the row with the Serbian FA does not speak well of his ability to get along behind the scenes. Though I am sure he believes he would, I don't imagine Tadic getting a much better payday than what we would offer him on an extension similar to VVD's; if we haven't done so, that's down to his back-room attitude, as he's surely he's earned it on the pitch. But if you look at where he's played, you have to suspect he hasn't earned enough over his career to feel like he's "set up" and at 27, his next contract has to be the big one. Like Sadio, I hope that being in the third year of a four-year deal would really put him in the right mind to turn in an amazing season, but I fear his mentality could make things much worse for us, if another club comes in with a serious offer. (I hate fearing the worst here, as he's probably my favorite player at the club right now. I should know better than to love a player who seems so likely to hurt me on the way out, but that's just the way it goes.)

 

As to Graziano, for him, much is riding on his performance this summer; he could make himself irresistible to one of the six or so Italian clubs that are clearly a step up from us. You cannot begrudge him taking the move home this year, or agitating for one; IMO we would be chumps to take anything less than 10M, even at his age, i think he's worth at least that much to us; I don't believe he is ever going to be a first-name-in-the-squad guy again for us, but he's proven he can be effective off the bench and play well "with the chip on his shoulder." (The amount of trash he comes in for on the board here, btw, infuriates me.) I think he stays, unless we do something stupid and part with RK over him not extending.

 

Wanyama seems a special case; I think he just really wants out of the south coast, no matter where; I don't think we're going to get a large offer but i feel like he isn't moving for a payday so much as a change of everything. The robbery sticks out in my memory, but there are probably a host of other things. It's going to hurt to see him in a once-every-three-games role at a club like Tottenham, but I truly think he's not extending and would likely decline next year even if he does. I doubt we would or should offer him a long deal in the same pay range as we've just given to VVD and Fraser; he probably does make more money elsewhere and I won't be angry at him leaving this offseason, just sad. People will remember the red cards, but only one of the three was really merited, for me; i think he has been unlucky in some ways but it does seem like he's reached the limits of how he is going to grow as a player and I don't think there's a premium on keeping him just because of his age; has he really gotten any better at reading the game or picking out a pass over the last three years? Modestly, if that.

 

Juanmi could and should go, we are better off with the roster space devoted to giving one of the academy attack players a chance to appear on the bench from time to time. A pity for him (and the black box) but he needs to be a full-time starter somewhere. Maybe we're better off loaning him out with a good chunk of the wages covered, than just selling him on?

A pretty good analysis

To be honest, I have no clue how attractive or unattractive a club we are to truly top class managers. Yes, we have had three straight Top 8 finishes, certainly a plus. Further, I think Leicester winning the League this year helps us, as the stigma that a small club cant win no matter what has been shattered. No talented player or manager is going to want to come to a club if success is not possible due to a systemic league set-up, re: La Liga.

The negative of course is that we are not a glamour club. We are not based in London, Manchester or Liverpool. We are never going to be showy.

I think the board has done an excellent job. It has been a slow, steady, calculated burn, where I think long term , a team like Leicester's will fade.

I am if the opinion are in a critical period right now. We have made positive incremental steps. Promotion, 14th, 8th, 7th (Europa qualifying), 6th (Europa Group Stages). All the while adding better, more talented players and managers, with depth. We can't think small, but at the same time we can't overreach, while ignoring the successful processes which have gotten us into this position.

I am kind of all over the map with this post, but who would have thought at the beginning of this season we can offer players European football while Chelsea and Liverpool cannot. That being said, what we cannot offer is a bigger paycheck than those clubs can. Hopefully, all the other pros we offer, can counteract that con. We'll see.

Chelsea have the keeper, striker, winger and CM wanting away. It's all about money & trophies so our club is no different to others.

Chelsea finished tenth....