25 Jan 2018 21:28:12
Carrillo signed, now for Quincy P. Score more goals than the opposition and you win games!

1.) 25 Jan 2018
25 Jan 2018 22:04:09
What's the latest on Promes?

2.) 25 Jan 2018
25 Jan 2018 22:18:32
We're chasing him. I think we're close to agreeing the signing fee with Moscow. However, what I didn't realise is that his wage is 130k per week, so he'll need to take a huge pay cut to join us.

3.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 00:49:00
To be honest teams we perceive to be below us are paying those wages and the money from TV rights are rediculous. If we want to stay in the Premiership we need to start paying the wages that the better players demand. We need to move forward with the times.

4.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 07:52:48
I agree - if we ever hope to challenge and push forward you have to match the "big boys" otherwise we will only attract peripheral players or those who just use us as a stepping stone (appreciate this happens. ) - with new investment surely this must be realitically achievable?

5.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 10:06:52
I disagree guys. There is little point in breaking your wage structure to sign one player as not only does that effect your finances for him, it upsets the balance across the team as many other players could demand new contracts to improve their wages to match this new level. The club could be blown out of the water financially in one fell swoop, or risk upsetting the squad and losing key players who insist on leaving if their new wage demands aren’t met. It is crucial that a club of our size keeps its finances in check. If we go heavily into debt, bringing in players we cannot afford to keep and they all jump ship, we end up relegated and at risk of going into administration. One transfer can have such a huge effect.

The reality is, we cannot match the big boys. Our club is smaller in every respect. We do not have the history of League, European or domestic cup success let alone the finances. Our ground is smaller, we sell fewer match day tickets, we sell cheaper match day tickets, we sell fewer replica shirts, we do not have a global brand, our marketing and sponsorship contracts are likely to be smaller, we receive less TV income than the big teams as we are on TV less, not only in our domestic league but in Europe and domestic cups as well. We cannot compete with them and we should not risk ruining the club to try.

The way we compete with the big teams is to have some of the best youth systems and training facilities in the country. The aim is not only to develop good young players but to make the best of the squad we have and also, our facilities have often been sited by new signings as a major reason why they sign for us. They see the set-up we have and see how professional and detailed our approach is behind the scenes.

So the club’s long term aim is (and should continue to be) to sign young players and develop them. If you look at Tottenham, their squad is paid very little compared to the other teams around them but they have young, hungry players who believe in the project and are all pulling together. When they get older, if Tottenham isn’t enough, then they may move on but there is always someone else to take their place. The difference between our aims and theirs are that they have greater money to spend and tend to focus on instant impact players to bring in, whereas we look to sign for the future.

If Promes won’t agree to our wage structure, we have to move on. It would be a shame to miss out on a talent like his, but it may be the black box can unearth another. It seems Gaitan is that back-up option if we can persuade him. I’m not sure who the next cab off the rank would be as the reports I’ve read so far only relate to Promes and Gaitan as wide options.

6.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 15:37:20
Good sensible quote Figo agree with most of it. The point on the world class training facilities is very true and brilliant academy also true. Unfortunately nothing much seems to be coming out of this academy lately. I wonder why.

7.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 17:23:45
It was interesting. I just did some digging into wage structures in Premier League. And on average, we are higher than a lot of clubs. I think the only non-big 6 teams that were above us was Everton, Leicester and West Ham. Which, wasn't surprising to read, we pay each player on average 55k per week.
However, the highest paid player at each club we are 16th (Lemina on 80k according to this article) . Whereas players like Benteke fit the bracket - he's on 120k per week but CP's average wage is lower than ours.
So yes looking at this transfer would it really be worth breaking our wage structure and upsetting more players in the team and creating friction from that?
And as Figo was saying we're not a global brand, if we bring in Promes, yes he will probably be our top shirt seller. However, we won't be selling hundreds of thousands of shirts with his name on the back aboard. Players like Pogba and Sanchez, the global recognition they get, they up paying for themselves.

8.) 26 Jan 2018
26 Jan 2018 20:54:24
To be honest saintjay until recently I had never heard of Quincy Promes and I am pretty sure nobody else in the world that are just general football supporters have heard of him either. Can’t see there is going to be a rush globally to buy his shirt even if he signs for SFC which I very much doubt is going to happen.

9.) 27 Jan 2018
27 Jan 2018 12:00:37
I think we do have to break our typical MO. I think especially how we are going, we need to shake things up. Maybe we really do just need to get rid of the board or manager. Who knows. Something definitely needs to change. Who knows if we need to change our transfer and wage policy. We won't know til we do it no?

10.) 27 Jan 2018
27 Jan 2018 12:33:14
That's a very interesting stat saintjay, however when you look at money in each season due to TV rights it keeps going up and up. Next summer is meant to be a record breaker again supposedly. We sold Manè at 34m was it? Please correct me if I'm wrong, where as the prices these days surely that would have been higher.

I don't wish the club to start trying to pay over the odds for players and for wages but I do believe decent attackers these days are certainly getting paid higher wages. If there is no goals coming in, there is a problem. I'm not wanting the club to put itself in a financial difficulty but surely a decent attacking player these days that will make a difference in the Premiership has to be worth at least 100k a week.

I don't know enough about quincy to say he'd definitely be the man but we also need to start moving forward if we hope to achieve "the European targets" as stated in the clubs ambition.
The way it's going this season we are going to be in for a tough ride. To me it seems like there is a massive problem behind the scenes, our team chemistry and overall fitness compared to other teams has been very crucial in last several years but it looks like we are lacking in both departments this season. Just hope we can pull through and gather enough points to stay up.

I believe we will but I think it's going to be a nail biting season for the supporters if we don't turn things around soon. The manager just hasn't been using our players strengths all season. Tadic is a quality crosser but Shane long and gabbiadini aren't target men. Shane long is great at distracting defenders and gabbi is a great finisher and poacher with the ball at his feet, the ball in the air to the pair is wasted. We need to start playing more through balls and early crosses on the deck for the pair.

11.) 27 Jan 2018
27 Jan 2018 12:39:41
great post figo.