Chez

not a clue. Maybe it suggests that nothing is off the table. Tarkowski on a free on a big wage, rather than just the same type of deal we have focused on in the recent past? I'm guessing they will be doing everything possible to shift the `deadwood', including low or no fees and paying players off or a percentage of their wages. `Bold' in other words. Whether that happens though...

What is the wage structure at SFC? We have been paying £95k a week to Forster to sit on the bench and play for Celtic over the last few years, wouldn't every play at the club during that time have this been entitled to have his agent ask for £95k a week too seeing as they are actually playing for the first team? Did they? JWP has just got a massive new contract - £100k a week and the rest. Why shouldn't Romeu expect that or KWP? There will always be players on more money, especially if they have let contracts wind down, or signed new ones to avoid them walking, or maybe getting a rise because other clubs bid for them. All those elements create unevenness. Its not as though talent and performance is rewarded with a higher wage evenly. Shane Long earning a she load more than KWP will tell you that. If Tarkowski comes in and get £120k a week, that's to his gain. The rest can see their contracts out and test the market too. Nothing to stop them. Doesn't mean they can all walk in the managers office the next day and ask for parity. Do players even discuss how much they get paid with each other?

that is a very strong argument for signing free transfers. The only issue is when they don't work out and there is even less chance of offloading them. However, as we often sign dirge and then struggle to shift those guys on £48k a week, what difference does it make? Plus, the chances of the free transfer high wage guy working out are maybe higher than the cheaper wage £15m transfer types. I don't know if Tarkowski is the answer, but it seems a decent option. The question is, why would he join us ahead of Newcastle?

Johnstone talk has gone very quiet. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/sam-johnstone-transfer-spurs-southampton-24042292 Linked with Man United as Henderson expected to go to Newcastle.

Quality is what matters. If they are good enough, they are old enough, If they are shit hot, who cares if they have 300 or 3 games of experience? However, I guess the concern with signing untried and tested young players like Livramento or Delap, is will they shine in the senior game, straight away? Livramento did, but others just don't make that step up, especially in the Prem. Maybe there are experienced Prem players that we could sign, but not sure there are too many that are actually good, available on a free and want to come here. Realistically, why would Tarwkowski come to us when he has a better offer? Or should we make our offer better than the rest and spend maybe £120k a week on him? I don't think that is gonna happen, but maybe every once in a while we ought to go big like that - assuming the funds are there. Not sure they are.

couple of reflex saves early on that would get high praise for in a match day situation, but lots of `so what stuff', like you said. Looks agile. He cleans up quite well. Not convinced by the kicking clips. Not sure he looks the part coming for crosses either - but there are not a lot of clips to be fair. Very hard to make a judgement though. I don't get Boruc (invincible type) vibes.

he certainly did. He's absolutely despised by Leicester fans from what I have seen on their forums/twitter.

Wonder how he is valued outside of our `four walls'. If we could get that kind of money it would be very handy in reshaping the back four. The problem sides like us have is selling middling or `poor' performing players to sides below us in the pyramid. The gap between Championship and Prem is so large when it comes to wages. It leaves players like that with no where to go - or at least no way for us to offload without paying a huge chunk of wages.

Rice for say £100m, JWP offer will be £50m. Not sure that's enough for us to sell. I think we'll want £65m. Not sure we'll get an offer that big though.

Just a note of warning, Sportrac have no idea abotu player contracts. Not a chance in a million years did JWP sign a five year contract for £45k a week. £145k a week will be closer to the mark.

wonder if it will it be as laughable as the Villa offer last summer.

We break even on transfers, the wage bill is less than the tv/prem money, but total outgoings have created £100m in debt, give or take. Who'd own a football club?

Need to include wages for five years too to provide a fairer picture of spend, although I dare say it wouldn't put us much higher on this table. We have no right to expect to be fighting for europe. Doesnt mean we cant of course.

I recall a whole summer of arguing with people about whether we should keep him one more year and then allow him to walk for free or sell and ensure we had funds to buy other players. I argued that it would have been business suicide to keep him - and there was not a chance it would happen, which it didn't. I agree, we made the right choice. In a similar vain I am wondering about Salisu, who was half way out the door in January. Is now the best time to sell financially? JWP is another, although the long contract means its a different scenario. But is there a better time to sell? Maybe he will be here his whole career though.

This. McCarthy was given a contract to be our number 1 and he will almost certainly be or number 1 come the start of the season. We'll sign a younger keeper. Whether he turns out to be another Gunn is to be seen. Let's hope he turns out to be fantastic.

My point being, that he didn't sign a contract to help Saints. Not a chance. He signed it to make him rich. Walcott. Now there's a guy that signed a contract to ensure Saints got paid, and I for one will be forever grateful to him. Absolute top guy. Gutted its not worked out for him football wise since he came back.

seems a hell of a lot for a 30 year old keeper, but they do go on a long time these days. Is he that good? I haven't seen enough of him to make a judgement. He cant dislodge Pickford from Englands number 1, who has been up and down to say the least. That makes me wonder a little. He looked great at Bury, but that was a few years ago now and strikers don't tend to make you look at mug at that level. We ain't got £40m to spend, so I guess it matters little.

I watched a youtube video of him the other day playing for his previous club. It shows him breaking up play and then bursting into space to start breakaway attacks. Made opponents look slow. He looked small but strong. Dynamic. Basically everything he hasn't been since he got here, or certainly not this season. He has either lost his way, or the opponents and pace of the game here is too much for him. Not sure.

Is that down to poor coaching or poor players? Can you teach an old dog new tricks? If a player doesn't track back, he never did, it just wasn't him, but a coach is on at him every day in training to do it, will he change and actually do it? I wonder how much coaches can actually do to change a player.

IMO if Ralph gives a player a new contract, then they should also be classified as `his' signings. He signed them to a new contract, he waned them, he kept them here, he filled them with that player instead of freeing up a slot for someone else, so they are his too. How many would that amount to?

Fair enough, although I think they are intrinsically linked. If, you have attacking players like Sala, Zaha etc. who don't need anyone else's help to create and score, that means you don't need to push midfielders and defenders forward quite so much, which means you are more solid and tighter at the back. Less competent attackers mean you have to gamble a bit more. The general consensus on here is that three out of four of our back four is OK. Forster was seen as OK, JWP and Romeu seen as ok, yet we let goals in left right and centre. If the personnel defensively ain't woeful, what was the reason? Maybe they aren't all that. Or maybe the reason was the way we were set up. If that's te reason then why set up like that? Perhaps it's to disguise the fact we ain't got much outstanding talent in attack. I don't know, but something has to change over the summer. Even if its just getting confidence back. Right now we look likely to lose to absolutely anyone/everyone.

If the task was to survive and have a decent cup run, then from the owners point of view he didn't fail. Not sure he has been rewarded. Is keeping your job classified as a reward these days?

If our success was largely down to Broja, then him not being here at all next season means we may have a problem. I worry that finding attacking players (number 10s) that can create and score goals straight from the off in the Prem will be incredibly tough with our budget. If you take some like Eze at Palace, signed for £17m, which is perhaps in our ball park, he has done OK, looks like he can play, but certainly didn't take the world by storm in his first season. Suffered from a bad injury this season followed by a struggle to get into the side on a regular basis. Ings certainly made us look good, scoring goals from everywhere, whether we had `earned' them or not. If your strikers aren't flying like he was, then you need to be creating lots of chances and keeping clean sheets. That ain't us. there is much work to do to enhance our attacking threat.

Levy ain't giving us £70m. He's looking for bargains, players with a year left on their contract, not guys that have just signed five year deals.

I'm sure he signed that contract to ensure he got big money.