FFC Summer 2009 Transfer Thread

oh boy, pfog may have to lock this thread before some violence breaks out...

 

Lyle, did you read what I said beyond the inter approach? Apparently not because what I called for was smart spending. I simply used Inter as an example of smart spending. There's no doubt that Inter have been an extremely smart club in the transfer market and only spent on positions where they needed it. That's what I called for so if that's controversial then we're really in trouble.




Nmancini, we played over our heads last year and I realize this won't happen again. This is why I wanted us to sign players where we needed depth or a starter. We failed and we didn't improve our team enough. If we are in 6th position this year, I will happily create a thread and maybe even buy a humble pie and happily show a picture of myself eat it.




Really I never seen such a response as I've seen here.I'm sure many have questioned their support of many teams they support. I really don't see anything controversial about this as it creates debate and can lead to changes. If anything I'm glad I wrote what I wrote as it has created debate with those who have took the time to actually read what I wrote.This is the whole point of this. If you simply follow the Fulham line no matter what then you become complacent and toe the relegation line. That's something I don't want happening again.

 

Loves FULHAM not enough? Or, too much??

Brilliant! Kids got heart.

 

Too much. In everything I do I have a passion that won't allow me to settle for what I accomplished or what my teams have accomplished. I'm always extremely critical of my politics,my teams,myself etc.This comes off as somebody who's always negative,but I feel that if you take a critical eye to whatever you do or support, bigger and better things get accomplished.

Sorry if I've come off as a negative prick on here, but now I hope you know where I'm coming from.

 

This year, unfortunately, Fulham will have to hit above their weight to get above 9th. Think about it: the big Four, the "almost theres" (Everton, Villa), and the Big Spenders (Tottenham, Man City).

I'll say it right now: this year, I'd be ok with 9th. Roy may even have us hitting above our weight again and sneak 8th. If Mo can expand capacity at the Cottage and get us over 30,000 seats, then I'd start looking at us becoming a regular Europa League team. Until then, it doesn't make sense to spend the money; our revenue stream wouldn't support it. Of the 8 teams I pick to be above us, ALL of them have larger stadiums than Craven Cottage (all except White Hart Lane seat >40k).

 

I knew that, but some probably needed the explanation. You are not alone.

 

Andy makes a good point. Craven Cottage ranks 29th in English football for capacity (not counting Wembley) and 16th in the Prem. We draw more than 3 of the EPL teams whose stadiums are larger (Blkbn, Bolt, Brum). The 13th-18th ranked clubs are all within 3k of each other. So the good news is that from a financial perspective, we should be able to finish safe of relegation if we are just average among our equals, 11th if we're the top dogs of our end of the spectrum.

For some perspective, we trail the 10th ranked club (spam) by 10k (38%) in capacity. That's a lot of revenue to make up. And the shortfall only gets worse as you go up the list.

So was 7th punching above our weight? Hell yes and then some.

The question I have is, "if you build it, will they come"? That seems to get very mixed answers among the London crowd. And the followup question, would you rather see Mo invest the Europa money in players? Or capacity? I'd lean toward the latter.

Wiki makes mention of plans to take the Cottage to 35k:

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No idea what growth plans really look like, but the Offal still shows capacity around 25k so who knows.

 

For further comparison, here are the wage bills for 2007/2008:

Chelsea - £172.1m
Manchester Utd - £121.1m
Arsenal - £101.3m
Liverpool - £90.4m
Newcastle Utd - £74.6m
Portsmouth £54.7m
Manchester City £54.2 m
Tottenham Hotspur £52.9 m
Aston Villa 50.4 m
Everton 44.5 m
West Ham United 44.2 m
Blackburn Rovers 39.7 m
Fulham 39.3 m
Bolton Wanderers 39 m
Wigan Athletic 38.4 m
Sunderland 37.1 m
Middlesbrough 34.8 m
West Bromwich Albion 21.8m
Stoke City 11.9 m
Hull City (2007 figures) 6.9 m

In 07/08, Fulham were 16th in capacity & 16th in attendance, so 13th in wage bills sounds reasonable and above what you'd expect.

I haven't found the numbers for last year's wage bills to see if we continued that trend. But we did add AJ & Zamora so I'd expect similar results.

 

Great work Ag! Very interesting numbers, I appreciate the research. I think we're right on par with how much we should spend.

Look at Everton and Villa and even Tottenham, they're not that much further ahead of us. Do you think if we signed one or two more middle of the road role players we'd be that much better off? Maybe being a little deeper to help counteract injuries, yes. But the overall talent level would be the same in the starting XI. And look at Newcastle on that list, how'd that work out?

The only way we'll ever spend the kind of money we all want to see is if MO finds an oil field on his land or if we are bought out by some Arab prince or American billionaire. Then what would our team look like? Would we even want to support a club like that?

I feel like the very reason we love Fulham is that they play with the same heart and passion the fans support them with. And it is because of this that an ordinary team can at times be extraordinary. Would this still be the case if we went on a spending spree like Man City? Or would the character of our team become compromised?

Just my two cents, but I love 24's passion, that's what makes this club and its supporters so unique.

UP FULHAM!!!!!!!!

 

Couldn't agree more bearzfan, cept for your name obv . I absolutely hate the Yankees, Red Wings, Lakers, or any other team (cough City cough) that follows that style of management. I like my little team just the way it is.

 

I think you need to take the Lakers off that list. They simply are a smart team and make the necessary moves to win. Also, the best player in the league was a draft day trade which only proves my point.




Anyways, I was looking at a Daily Mail article and Lucas Neill,Michael Ball and Henri Camara are still available. Considering we need forward depth and CB depth, I'd take Neill and Camara. I'm not sure if I trust Smalling to be our backup CB.

 

Hmm Neill is still available? He would be a great addition, and knows Marky Mark quite well.

And FFC24 can you link that story? I went on the Daily Mail's homepage but gave up because its quite possibly the worst site on the planet.

 

I'm posting from my phone so I can't link anything. However, it's also on newsnow under "failed to find a bargain in the sales...".

 

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 42,00.html

interesting