Chez

There is quite a sizeable drop off in the amount you get from year two to three, which is why people say you only really have two years to get back up...adn then after that the playing field starts to level. So maybe you will have to go for three year cycles rather than four. Ultimately, getting promoted and then failing to stay up is way more preferable than staying down. Our finances should be in a reasonable state and the squad is stronger than last summer. For example, instead of loaning in Downes, we already have him, so perhaps this summer we can build rather than rebuild?

Glad you managed to sort out all the bugs unlike...

Relegated sides from the Prem get four years of parachute payments - which decrease each of those four years. The only time you don't get four years, is if you get promoted back to the Prem, one, two or three years after going down. I.e. once you go up, the payments stop - replaced by the much larger Prem money. If you go down and then up and then back down, like us, you just start another four year cycle of parachute payments. The actual amount you get each year is not straight forward, with all the relegated clubs over the last four years having to share a larger lump sum, which changes every few years.

Shit signings at our level and size of club hurt you for years. Same for every prem team I guess. Only way around it is not to sign shit on the first place. Sadly the good players we have identified, like Gakpo, have had better options.

What do you mean? The £120m+ TV and prize money we'll get in the prem this year will be replaced by £40m+ 'parachute payment' next season and, if we haven't got promoted, about £36m the following season... So, income is reduced massively, but that £40m+ means you can pay players a lot more than the other championship sides can.

I agree, in this window there is very little we can do other than look to bolster the u21s which can pay off in the long term. However, come the summer we will be once again an attractive option, at least for a certain level of player. We were a basket case last time we went down, but still attracted Manning, Fraser, THB, Downes and Brooks that were good enough to get us promoted. Now, whether the manager and support team can turn this ship around as Martin managed to do, is a different question.

We are effectively a championship club already. Which means we are competing for players with the likes of Leeds and Sheffield United. And we are probably going to lose that battle too. If you were say Ben Sheaf at Cov, would you sign for Leeds or Saints in January? Come the summer, we (and our parachute payment) become attractive again.

Daily Mail Links him with West Ham and Leicester.

I was referring to individuals like BBD. But yeah, we need to be better next season then last. We can worry about that in the summer.

Bragg not getting in the Crawley squad and Ballard not in the goals at Blackpool.

so, basically we should stick with the current squad next season safe in the knowledge that although they may not be cut out for the Prem, but they have done well in the past in the second tier. not very sexy, but makes sense.

Brentford have murdered us the last few games at their place. Bit worried they might extend that dominance to SMS. How are we going to score goals? Sugawara crossing to Onuachu looked promising against West Ham, but he might not even play.

If we can reboot with strikers that can not only get us out of the championship but cause problems for Prem defences, that would be amazing. Also, extremely hard to do. Armstrong and Bbd are signed on until 2027. Not sure either will be easy to shift.

All those clubs seem a good fit. At Palace, Munez has his limitation and the skate Ward is 35 and out of contract in the summer. At Fulham, Tete is also out of contract in the summer. Brentford fullbacks both have another 18 months on their deals.

I was referring to kwp. I agree a bbd move seems feasible.

the club won't have a say. The player holds all the cards. If an established Prem side came in, then maybe he'd go now, but not sure too many clubs are desperate to sign a right back in January.

Won't happen in January. He will wait until the summer and see if a Prem side will take him. No point in jumping ship to a side that might be in the championship.

If we can include a requirement to buy should they get promoted, that would be good. We need to try again, and hope the next striker can score goals to get us promoted and then make a decent fist of it in the Prem.

I'm not a fan and probably never will be, but Onuachu starts without question until we sign someone else.

you are kidding, right?

Can he play at this level? Without question. He's not been great recently, but before that he was beating players right left and centre. Players that can do that are worth their weight in gold. Grealish scored 0 goals in first full season (he played just one game in the previous season), 1 in his second, then 5 in his third (in the championship).

If we pay him what his agent thinks he is worth, he might stay. If that is £100k a week or more and we are in the championship, that might not be feasible

the signing of Anthony Pulis and Paul Wotton may have scarred me for life.

I'm still surprised he signed for us. He could have all the big sides after him in the summer.

What's the score with Ramsdale's contract? Does he have any kind of relegation clause in it?