http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/7382735?source=Evening Losing 7 million is heavy, but considering the signings we've made will be there for years and have considerable resale value (if they don't pan out) and the players we chopped out for peanuts, it's not so bad. The worry is that this figure doesn't include the spending on Postiga, Zamora and Kanoute (!). Certainly it's insignificant though compared to Leeds crippling debts. Or even Everton's 30 million pound debt, for example. But the raising of our debt from 3.1 million to 10 million is still a cause for concern. Really we should thank Sugar for being such a skinflint in his time in charge, he made sure we were financially one of the healthiest clubs in the league, apart from ManYoo. I credit Levy's ambition, but we need to get back on a fairly more even transfer keel unless we can get the investment plan sorted out. No more chopping players out for nothing while spending millions on replacements until then. The team doesn't need a lot more money thrown at it yet. We can sell Carr in January if he won't sign a new deal, as we've got youngsters who can play right back to a very high standard (Kelly, Marney and Ifill) and senior defenders who can also play there to give them time (King could play there, Mabizela used to play there and we could move Tanno over from the left). So that's ready income of about 5 million right there. Apart from that I'd look to let loose about 1.5 million in January to sign Reo-Coker from Wimbledon, so he can be groomed into the box-to-box tackling midfielder role. No need to pay over the odds for the finished article. A*senal didn't when they got Viera, and Liverpool didn't when they groomed Gerrard into the role all the way up through the youth ranks. Then I'd also let loose whatever it takes to get Konchesky from Charlton, let them have Perry in part exchance. Apart from that we're not desperate for reinforcements in any other area, if anything we should be out to chop Poyet, Toda and Doherty. Only Doherty will get a fee, probably about 750,000. But the saving on wages will be good as well.
Good post sendorange, lots of nice points. I'd hate to lose Carr, and I seriously do not think he wants to leave, but I am encouraged by Marney and Kelley, and you say Ifil is a good prospect as well. But, only Marney could hack it just yet, and they all need seasoning. I'm not as jazzed about using Taricco as a replacement for Carr. I agree about Konchesky, but like Scott Parker, let's see what the price tag is first. I think Konchesky would be a very good left fullback and has the right attitude. But if we're negative seven mil, and that doesn't include Postiga, Kanoute and the rest, well ... Konchesky just might not be an option. I see where the talk of Postiga being sold comes from now, unfortunately. My real question is ... how were they going to pay for Diego? He's another great investment, but you do need the money to buy players. I don't know what the answer is for our Dmid situation, but I absolutely do not want to build a team around Ledley King ... he's just too darn injury-prone. Mabizela, I just don't know enough about yet. But it does need to be addressed. Hopefully when Ziege returns we'll shift Konchesky (if he's still here) to fullback and start generating more offense. -Digital
http://www.thisislondon.com/sport/football/articles/7407024 So they've dropped the bond. Can't say I'm devastated about that, the thing about obtaining money that way is that eventually you've got to pay it back, and you make yourself artificially strong. The Postiga sale is interesting, can't see it being true, and I don't think any of the so far interested clubs out there would be able to afford him, except maybe Inter Milan.