Just what does it take to be established in the Premier league?

[Number 9]

What, if anything, is Smith doing differently?

1) We now have Plan A.1 & A.2

2) We have brought in a player with experience in the Prem

It's early days yet but significant steps away from the previous mantra which seemed set in stone.

 

[Number 9]

1) We can only afford a Plan A

2) We always have to gamble, to some respect, as that is what we can afford to

That's true but it's not the whole truth.
We spent millions on multiple very average midfielders, we had the national collection of very average midfielders, most of whom couldn't be in the squad each week because there's simply not enough seats in the dugout or on the bus.
Most went out on loan and were eventually sold on etc
That culminative cost could have been used to bring in fewer players who had more experience in the league.

Example = Hayden fits that category.

 

[morty]

What, if anything, is Smith doing differently?

1) We now have Plan A.1 & A.2

2) We have brought in a player with experience in the Prem

It's early days yet but significant steps away from the previous mantra which seemed set in stone.

Technically, most of our squad has "experience" in the Prem...

I don't Smith is doing anything particularly differently, if you take Smith and Farke out of the equation, we are still sticking to the 5 year (with maybe a few years added) plan set out by Webber. We build quality, year on year, over the last few seasons the amount we have spent on players has slowly started to increase. I mean, of course, we still gamble, but this is the way we have to do things, we simply don't have the funds to do what Forest have done. Which will actually be an interesting watch, Fulham spent 100m and went down, so will be fun to see what happens to Forest.

 

[morty]

That's true but it's not the whole truth.
We spent millions on multiple very average midfielders, we had the national collection of very average midfielders, most of whom couldn't be in the squad each week because there's simply not enough seats in the dugout or on the bus.
Most went out on loan and were eventually sold on etc
That culminative cost could have been used to bring in fewer players who had more experience in the league.

Example = Hayden fits that category.

It is the age old problem though, do experienced Premier league players want to come to a team that are odds on to be relegated? And we don't have the moolah to even make it worth their while.

 

[Number 9]

It is the age old problem though, do experienced Premier league players want to come to a team that are odds on to be relegated? And we don't have the moolah to even make it worth their while.

Buying four players at £10,000,000 and paying them £20,000 per week to get relegated is surely not as good as buying two better players at £20,000,000 and paying them £40,000 per week.
You'd certainly be improving the quality of the squad and stand more chance of staying up.
Obviously it's not guaranteed but the odds are in your favour if the players have experience in that league.
Before you say we don't have 40 million, we're spent double that during the Farke era ,it can be done one or two at a time doesn't have to be all at once.

 

[morty]

Buying four players at £10,000,000 and paying them £20,000 per week to get relegated is surely not as good as buying two better players at £20,000,000 and paying them £40,000 per week.
You'd certainly be improving the quality of the squad and stand more chance of staying up.
Obviously it's not guaranteed but the odds are in your favour if the players have experience in that league.
Before you say we don't have 40 million, we're spent double that during the Farke era ,it can be done one or two at a time doesn't have to be all at once.

If it was that simple, nobody would be relegated

Plus you need a squad, players get injured, no matter what they cost.

There is also a complex Venn diagram here, players sign saying they will take a pay cut when we are relegated, some may not be happy with that, some may not want to play in the Championship, some players maybe only signed for us to shop window themselves, hoping to get picked up by a bigger team when we get relegated. A huge amount of factors, and a nightmare to actually plan for.

 

[Number 9]

If it was that simple, nobody would be relegated

Plus you need a squad, players get injured, no matter what they cost.

There is also a complex Venn diagram here, players sign saying they will take a pay cut when we are relegated, some may not be happy with that, some may not want to play in the Championship, some players maybe only signed for us to shop window themselves, hoping to get picked up by a bigger team when we get relegated. A huge amount of factors, and a nightmare to actually plan for.

All clubs face those challenges unless you're top of the Premier League, that's the job of Webber and his posse to work through that.
Of course you or I would find that challenging just as he would find it challenging to work on the sites you do in the ocean.
It's his job, he has the tools to do it.
He hasn't done it well enough in my opinion.

 

[morty]

All clubs face those challenges unless you're top of the Premier League, that's the job of Webber and his posse to work through that.
Of course you or I would find that challenging just as he would find it challenging to work on the sites you do in the ocean.
It's his job, he has the tools to do it.
He hasn't done it well enough in my opinion.

Nah, they don't though, do they? And he really doesn't have the same tools as others. I mean I suppose you could compare us to Fulham, West Brom, Bournemouth and Watford, but I can guarantee out of all of those, we have the least money to spend.

I have mentioned this before, but we really were spoiled a bit by Emi, we are never going to find another like him.

And yes you can be doom and gloom about things, but if you want to be cup half full, we have been promoted 5 times in the last 10 years(?)

 

[Number 9]

Nah, they don't though, do they? And he really doesn't have the same tools as others. I mean I suppose you could compare us to Fulham, West Brom, Bournemouth and Watford, but I can guarantee out of all of those, we have the least money to spend.

I have mentioned this before, but we really were spoiled a bit by Emi, we are never going to find another like him.

And yes you can be doom and gloom about things, but if you want to be cup half full, we have been promoted 5 times in the last 10 years(?)

What, if anything, is Smith doing differently?

1) We now have Plan A.1 & A.2

2) We have brought in a player with experience in the Prem

It's early days yet but significant steps away from the previous mantra which seemed set in stone.

I'm not completely doom & gloom, I have seen early signs of change in the way we do things.
I'm open minded about Smith but change appears to be happening for the better.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

I'm open minded about Smith.

Me too .... I think he is managing the squad OK at the moment, but I am unsure about him if results start to go against us. He did appear to be flailing around in the darkness at Villa before he was sacked and when the rot really set in at NCFC towards the end of the season.

 

[morty]

Here's something that just popped into my mind, randomly, kind of related.

Imagine if we had Nunez last season instead of Billy Gilmour...

 

[Number 9]

Here's something that just popped into my mind, randomly, kind of related.

Imagine if we had Nunez last season instead of Billy Gilmour...

Bit worried about you oversharing things that randomly pop into your head, you filthy animal.

 

[morty]

Bit worried about you oversharing things that randomly pop into your head, you filthy animal.

Oh theres faaaaaaar worse than that!

 

[Number 9]

Oh theres faaaaaaar worse than that!

Worse than you imagining unspeakable things about Billy & Nunez?

 

[morty]