Thursday deadline.

[AdamRochina]

Didn't realize the otter was free.. carey looks good too why not both 

[blueboy3333]

20 minutes ago, Acrover said:

Stephen Ireland

Charlie Adam 

see Peter Whittingham.

No thanks.

We need more Dacks - young players with ambition who will grow in value.

[blueboy3333]

Looking forward to see who we recruit this summer. It's fair to say that Mowbray has struggled to some extent in the transfer market. Take out Dack and Smallwood and his recruitment of players on permanent contracts has been distinctly average. Hopefully the new scouting system pays dividends.

[Sparks Rover]

Paddy McNair and Callum Mcmanaman. 

 

 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, AdamRochina said:

Since the all knowing overlord chaddy has told me never to mention Sunderland players ever again ..how about Marriott .. Carey and Ivan toney from this leauge to take with us? Pretty decent players ..if we can loan Armstrong again too ..would be in a stronger position 

I would take McNair from Sunderland. But I would like to sign Jon Nolan from Shrewsbury. 

Marriott would cost 8 million. Was linked with Palace in January for 8 million. 

I think we be looking at 6/7 players to sign. A centre back, centre midfielder, 2 wingers, Armstrong and Target man type. Possible Payne or another number 10 player..

But I'm going to sit back and enjoy the Summer whilst seeing who we sign and link to. 

45 minutes ago, Acrover said:

Some decent playets on thst list, also checked out the premier league list and theres a few that may be worth a punt,

Stephen Ireland

Charlie Adam 

And a few that I would love to see in blue and white halves but don't think we could afford atm.

I've read what you all have to say about this window and the likelyhood is they in pune can see the impact Mowbray has had and will invest even if it is a modest amount. If he is smart aboit his bueniss he can do it on a modest budget and make us competitive, we will need this year to find our feet in the league and if by jan we are in with a shout of the play-offs then he can demand more investment to get us over the line.  

IN MOWBRAY WE TRUST!

No to Adam and Ireland. Due to wages. 

 

44 minutes ago, Tom said:

Welcome back, you weren’t done with the board for long!

Marriott looks pricey, Toney I wanted a while back and could do a job, worth a punt, I don’t know much about Carey to be fair.

I agree on Marriott. Toney is a possible option..

Isnt Carey 30 years old and not quick? 

[blueboy3333]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Isnt Carey 30 years old and not quick? 

A bit like Graham..

Oh, hang on....

[Fraserkirky]

If your looking for a marquee signing then John McGinn from Hibs is the man. He is leaving Hibs probably for the championship. Price tag of 5m. 23 year old Scottish international. Brilliant centre midfielder

[JacknOry]

4 hours ago, Acrover said:

Some decent playets on thst list, also checked out the premier league list and theres a few that may be worth a punt,

Stephen Ireland

Charlie Adam 

And a few that I would love to see in blue and white halves but don't think we could afford atm.

I've read what you all have to say about this window and the likelyhood is they in pune can see the impact Mowbray has had and will invest even if it is a modest amount. If he is smart aboit his bueniss he can do it on a modest budget and make us competitive, we will need this year to find our feet in the league and if by jan we are in with a shout of the play-offs then he can demand more investment to get us over the line.  

IN MOWBRAY WE TRUST!

Just no - no more players in the twilight of their careers looking for a final contract to get rich off.

Murphy, Etuhu, Whittingham - which of these were a success?

[JacknOry]

4 hours ago, Tom said:

I’d take Otzumer as a Dackup option on a free 

Not just as a backup, could play as one of the inside forwards behind Graham.

Either way, its a no-brainer on a free.

The Shrewsbury player Ogogo is on a free too at end of season and unlikely to renew - their key player according to them. Would not be a bad shout if funds are limited.

Edited May 2, 2018 by JacknOry

[toogs]

4 hours ago, JacknOry said:

Just no - no more players in the twilight of their careers looking for a final contract to get rich off.

Murphy, Etuhu, Whittingham - which of these were a success?

Tugay 

[davulsukur]

50 minutes ago, toogs said:

Tugay 

Tugay wasn't a complete waster though....

[Bigdoggsteel]

5 hours ago, JacknOry said:

Just no - no more players in the twilight of their careers looking for a final contract to get rich off.

Murphy, Etuhu, Whittingham - which of these were a success?

Mulgrew  

[toogs]

37 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Tugay wasn't a complete waster though....

We didnt know that before we signed him and his age, tin pot league etc was questioned on here  

Signing players is hit and miss.

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

No way on Ireland and Adam. I don't know about Adam, but Ireland isn't the type of personality Tony  would want in the squad. 

We need young, hungry players. We have enough experience in Mulgrew, Whittingham and Graham. Smallwood,  Lenihan, Bennett and Downing have been around also. 

Edited May 2, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[Oldgregg86]

10 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

Paddy McNair and Callum Mcmanaman. 

 

 

Mcmanaman is a great shout

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

8 hours ago, Fraserkirky said:

If your looking for a marquee signing then John McGinn from Hibs is the man. He is leaving Hibs probably for the championship. Price tag of 5m. 23 year old Scottish international. Brilliant centre midfielder

I can't see us having £5 million to spend in total never mind on one player.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Norbert Rassragr]

Charlie Adam, maybe but a big fat no for Ireland. He's hardly played a game in 5 years, and is obviously mentally weak. A complete waster.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Norbert Rassragr

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

36 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Mcmanaman is a great shout

He'll be on mega bucks.

[davulsukur]

57 minutes ago, toogs said:

We didnt know that before we signed him and his age, tin pot league etc was questioned on here  

Signing players is hit and miss.

 

Yer I know.

 

I'd have probably questioned his signing to be fair.

[JHRover]

There's a story in the Guardian today about Burton Albion and their potential survival in the Championship against all the odds. That story reports that their annual wage bill is around £8 million and their average crowds are around 4,700.

Earlier this week Mowbray mentioned in one interview that our wage bill is around £8.5 million with some clubs upwards of £40 million.

If those figures are accurate then it is both pleasing and worrying. Pleasing because it tells me that the big earners are gone and we're at a low base level now, but it is also worrying because we've reached a stage where we're in the same ball park as Burton Albion in terms of the money we're paying out on players despite their crowds being less than half of ours and we will have to increase it back up substantially if we're going to compete.

I don't really understand how with an annual wage bill of just a bit more than Burton's that our losses can be so much greater, particularly as our club revenues ought to be drastically higher (maybe not this season but certainly when at the same level).

Edited May 2, 2018 by JHRover

[jim mk2]

Older players are as much a gamble as young Under-23s - Tony Mowbray please note.

Are they still hungry to play the game and for success or are they going through the motions for one last big payday ? 

We've had  few of the former and plenty of the latter over the years. The manager needs to talk to these players thoroughly and make a judgment

[rog of the rovers]

 

12 minutes ago, JHRover said:

There's a story in the Guardian today about Burton Albion and their potential survival in the Championship against all the odds. That story reports that their annual wage bill is around £8 million and their average crowds are around 4,700.

Earlier this week Mowbray mentioned in one interview that our wage bill is around £8.5 million with some clubs upwards of £40 million.

If those figures are accurate then it is both pleasing and worrying. Pleasing because it tells me that the big earners are gone and we're at a low base level now, but it is also worrying because we've reached a stage where we're in the same ball park as Burton Albion in terms of the money we're paying out on players despite their crowds being less than half of ours and we will have to increase it back up substantially if we're going to compete.

I don't really understand how with an annual wage bill of just a bit more than Burton's that our losses can be so much greater, particularly as our club revenues ought to be drastically higher (maybe not this season but certainly when at the same level).

Lets not forget we're going into a league, where champions Wolves paid £15.8m for Ruben Neves!

Heck even Derby County paid £7m for Tom Lawrence!

 

[JHRover]

Just now, rog of the rovers said:

 

Lets not forget we're going into a league, where champions Wolves paid £15.8m for Ruben Neves!

Heck even Derby County paid £7m for Tom Lawrence!

 

If those figures are correct and our wage bill is now only £8.5 million and Burton Albion's is a 'modest' £8 million then we're at base level - we cannot cut wages any more than that if we want to survive or thrive in the Championship. Quite how losses can be so high on such a wage bill I'm not sure as there's no way Burton are losing similar amounts as us.

I don't think shelling out tens of millions on new players is likely or the right thing to do, but if our wage bill is similar to Burton's we are going to need to bump that up significantly. Strangely one thing Venkys have always seemed happy to do is pile big earners onto the books, but have usually avoided getting the chequebook out for big transfer fees unless in exceptional circumstances.

[Mattyblue]

So say Burton have a squad of 18, that's £444,000 a year each - 9k a week.

Surely they aren't paying that?

Edited May 2, 2018 by Mattyblue

[RoverCanada]

17 minutes ago, JHRover said:

There's a story in the Guardian today about Burton Albion and their potential survival in the Championship against all the odds. That story reports that their annual wage bill is around £8 million and their average crowds are around 4,700.

Earlier this week Mowbray mentioned in one interview that our wage bill is around £8.5 million with some clubs upwards of £40 million.

If those figures are accurate then it is both pleasing and worrying. Pleasing because it tells me that the big earners are gone and we're at a low base level now, but it is also worrying because we've reached a stage where we're in the same ball park as Burton Albion in terms of the money we're paying out on players despite their crowds being less than half of ours and we will have to increase it back up substantially if we're going to compete.

I don't really understand how with an annual wage bill of just a bit more than Burton's that our losses can be so much greater, particularly as our club revenues ought to be drastically higher (maybe not this season but certainly when at the same level).

Our turnover will likely be about £15-£18m in the Championship versus maybe £10-£11m in League One. Burton only had revenue of £11m in the Championship last year.

Mowbray might be excluding staff wages, which would add £1-£2m (I'm still quite surprised we're that low after £22m last year, but I guess League One was the final kick in reorienting our wage structure!).

Also, our 'other expenses' tend to be fairly high, which is to be expected with our larger stadium, better training facilities, etc. (and maybe we're just inefficiently run too!) I think they were only something like £6.5m last year but that was a one-off exception and they've been more like £10m/year. Burton other expenses were only £2.3m last year.

It'll be interesting to see how much we've actually lost this year... if turnover is £10m, wages £8.5-£10m, other expenses £8m, player trading netting out to -£1m... that suggests we've lost £7.5-£9m this year.

I see Venky's having three 'choices', which is dependent on the losses they're willing to absorb/how they're able to weather the debt:

1) "Go for it" and incur a wage bill of £20m+. This would mean a wages-to-turnover ratio of ~110%-140%. This would put us in the top third of wages-to-turnover ratios in the Championship, but only roughly a median wage bill. (I doubt this will happen, and it's probably not all that prudent...)

2) "Reasonably competitive expenditure", incurring a wage bill of £14-£16m. This would be in line with the likes of Wigan, Ipswich, Brentford, PNE,  maybe Millwall. So a wages-to-turnover ratio of 80%-105%, which is roughly median for the Championship, and wages that would be in the bottom third. (I think the most likely course)

3) "Scrape a profit": wage bill of £10m at most, which would be in line with Rotherham and Burton in both wage level and wages-to-turnover, and thus bottom of the Championship expenditure. We'd maybe break even or have a modest £1m proft. (There's been minimal indication of this occurring, but we are ultimately subject to Venky's whims...)

I suppose there could be a "splurge and gamble on PL" option, where we spend like crazy and pray for promotion before our losses cripple us again or we get hit by FFP again (which is a fairly common Championship strategy...), but I doubt that'll happen (nor should it really...).

All of the above would be altered by some player sales too, say Lenihan or, heaven forbid, Dack...