When he left we were on a decline which eventually lead us into league 1!? Whereas we now sit in the Championship looking up at a potential promotion push having spent less than at least 11 teams in there who currently benefit from parachute payments. But all of the above is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s been huge steps made internally and in terms of infrastructure.

I think of all our challenges, our ability to go on runs is pretty self evident. Good and bad runs. If we can be within touching distance with 10 to go...I’d at its game on!

I’d say that around January in the seasons they went up a lot of them probably had the same fears we have with squads of similar quality. Some better, some worse. How many Sheffield Utd fans do you think genuinely thought they would go up and compete in the PL? Same with Burnley? Appreciate your opinion on the manager and squad but this notion of be ‘worthy’ PL candidates is romantic at best and utterly ridiculous at worst.

You’re being far too finicky mate. The PL is littered with very average teams. It’s been proven with the likes of Burnley, Brighton, Cardiff, Sheff United, Bournemouth, Watford and West Brom that you can go up with decent teams and survive for a few years on basic investment. In all honesty, I’d take a Norwich City situation. The finance and improvement of the squad could secure our long term future and even if we dropped straight back down the squad and club as a whole would be in a far better position.

The wording as I have read it is that the period is ‘rolling’ and therefore based on the current and previous two years. Which means the picture will change every year. Makes much more sense also. Im not sure we have waited for one year of expenditure as a strategic plan but more of build up of expectations over that period. The summer should free up some money from the contracts expiring. (A third of the current budget). Of course, we’ll need to replace some of the key positions but I’d prefer the squad fillers to be u23’s from now on. Interesting about the ‘profits’ in signings too. Thanks for the info ??

I wasn’t suggesting that they have the same qualities, just that Gallagher could have the same overall effect for us (in terms of goals return / prominence in the team) Over the medium to long term.

100%. There’s definitely a player in Gallagher. Not a world beater by any stretch of the imagination but I fancy him to kick on to a Danny Graham level for us.

Not really because the info is incorrect. The losses are based on the current and previous accounts on a rolling basis. So realistically, if you had a year off spending / minimised losses then you would have space to spend in the following financial year. Sell a player and that immediately creates room in the budget.

Tbh, I think the summer window was decent Joe. Tosin, Downing, Cunningham and latterly Holtby were excellent signings imo. Walton has generally done ok apart from the odd rush of blood. Johnson hasn’t been great but is an upgrade on what we had. Gally has been disappointing so far, but I think there’s a player in there.

My understanding is that it’s based on the last three accounts. So technically it would only hinder spending for one year. If you held back then you would have some wiggle room again the following year...

Great point Joe. Fully agree.

I wasn’t defending anything. Just trying to give an explanation as to why we have not heard anything. Corroborated by the amount of regurgitated stories by all of the usual media outlets. No one has any stories. Because everyone has been off grid. Yes they got it wrong last January. I’m sure it was a massive source of frustration for them too. I can’t see anyone wanting that again. Especially with the added pressure of higher expectation. We’ll know this week.

They’ve all been away this week tbf. Including the General Manager and directors.

Good point but the club have a 12 month contract trigger that they’ll prob go with..

Feels like 68th January to me....just get to the end already!!

Wow...you need to ban yourself mate! ??

The recruitment policy is a completely different matter and I would tend to agree with some of your assertions. My post was in relation to spend vs position argument where it was intimated that the owners were spending enough to expect promotion. The simple answer is they’re not. We have a mid table budget / spend on fees and salaries. There’s 11 clubs in the league who have parachute payments still being paid and will definitely have a bigger budget / liability than us.

Please stop taking it out of context. I’m saying that in general they’re (staff) are relaxed about finances. The notion of us not having a pot to piss in is nonsense. Id be asking about my £12m too but then I’m not a multi millionaire. If I looked at a manager who had a mid table budget and a team sat in the mid table with eyes on the top 6 I might, potentially be satisfied?

Absolutely. As has the academy with the likes of Lenihan, Nyambe, Raya, Travis, Buckley, Butterworth, Magloire and JRC who have all played some part in the first team picture.

If you look at our spend on Salaries and fees we are roughly mid table in spending terms. So, tbf they haven’t spent enough for a play off push, Yet.

As far as I can see, Waggot explained that the owners are willing to invest but that ffp is the stumbling block. The calmness I’m talking about is the lack of restriction generally. The frustration is that but for ffp, Venkys would Bank roll a playoff push.

I don’t think it’s as tight as is being painted Joe. Some will go from that list this month and by my reckoning, a third of the budget will be free for reinvestment in the summer when contracts / loan periods end. As I intimated a couple of weeks ago, the club is relaxed and Venkys happy to spend. FFP is the only stumbling block. May end up being pleasantly surprised by the end of the window.

I’m not trying to bash anyone mate. People can’t help the way they feel. It’s just sad, as you said.

I have to disagree. Football is game between opposing teams where supporters attend matches to support their teams. The end. TV and now the internet improved and increased coverage so that people could support from afar but when you boil it down, the whole point of a supporter is to support the team. This action is performed at the game.

You are absolutely right Stuart. There are so many out there with opinions who’ve ‘been there and seen it all’. The owners should do this, the players should do that. But imo, words are cheap. People are the sum of their actions and the actions of many past supporters show that they no longer care. Venkys set off a chain of destruction and pain for us but, time is a healer. There are several clubs who have had it as bad if not worse than us and managed to retain a loyal fan base. I’m not sure what the answer is. Maybe we’ve found our level and the previously higher attendances were a symptom of our successes in the 90’s Selling 345 half season tickets during our best run of the season proves the lack of current interest. Very sad