My Rant

I posted this elsewhere in Fulham world under the title: It's finally dawned on me. Here it is for your enjoyment as well:

Despite the fact that we're supposed to be getting the squad younger, we keep signing 30+ players.
Despite the fact that we're going for continuity and consistency, most of the players we signed this summer were either on loan or on one year contracts.

I couldn't figure out how this made sense until it finally dawned on me. MAF is looking for a buyer. Older players with short term contracts aren't going to affect the balance of a new buyer. There is considered to be enough talent in this squad to keep us up without investing any more money in new contracts. For that reason, it's a gamble to buy -- especially when you're presenting a [relatively] low-risk investment opportunity to a potential buyer. This goes a long way to explain why we didn't do much in the summer to beef up the midfield even though plans were obviously afoot from the end of last season to send three midfielders on their way [Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu].

Players who are still in their prime and who are front-line players should not be given long-term contracts because that would contribute to a long-term expenditure obligation that a new buyer may not wish to inherit. This goes a long way towards explaining why Dempsey and Hangeland weren't offered the long-term contracts they were seeking.

With the one-season 30+ on the books, even a relegation wouldn't be a major problem. Despite the fact that we have very few veterans with long-term contracts, we'd still get the parachute payments as if we did. This would be an infusion of income for the new buyer. And, I'd bet you several houses that Berbatov's contract allows him free agency should we be relegated.

So, it all makes sense to me now. If we can hold on and finish 17th, we'll start next season with a new owner, a new manager, and -- hopefully -- a BUTTLOAD of new players. If we can't, we'll try to do well in the championship with the new owner, new manager and all the young talent we have at the club but that we're giving scant opportunities to now.

Yes, it makes sense to me. I don't like it, but it makes sense to me.