Mr Popodopolous

Correct. Since 2005 and 2011 respectively iirc. Well yes and no. FFP was in place when Brighton went up, whether it was quite as restrictive as now dunno. Swansea certainly it wasn't but they wouldn't have breached anyway they would have been within I reckon by today's £39m 3 year loss limit. Gone downhill badly under them although they run a reasonable ship financially. Unsure. Think he's been quite good and the infrastructure investment has been excellent, monetarily he has put a fair whack in but did he twist at the right times? Conversely there was big overspending at just the wrong time.

Is Tanner a wing back though? Even thst feels like a bit of a compromise- mind you Sykes was more central when we signed him. Suppose half our side are compromises in one way or another. I'd prefer him in a back 4 at RB really, problem is can Naismith play in a CB pair, who do we pair at centre back etc. A fully fit and in form Wilson and Kalas could square some circles but that feels a long way off.

To be fair, 1st 10 mins some good chants of "Red Army" and we had a couple of good attacks, they had a couple of good attacks. When they scored the atmosphere seemed to collapse but first half performance wise didn't seem too bad, 2nd half they stepped up and we shrunk. The last real decent combination of performance and atmosphere I remember however was v Watford in November IMO.

The only concern I have with the Maguire and Gray deals that never were, would be was it possible that it could have tipped us over £13m in FFP losses for that season at the prices agreed therefore an embargo applicable in January 2017? That 1 year rule was still in place at that time. Believe it is arguable either way. Another critique I have is, could Cotts have shown a bit more patience and pragmatism in that season knowing that greater revenue streams will be heading his way in 2016-17, still a Championship club- redevelopment finishes therefore more money to spend. Instead that fell into the lap of Lee Johnson, he benefited from that growth in matchday and commercial revenue but had Cotts shown more patience he may have got it.

It's a valid point though because if as we have to do, you have to implement strong cuts and you are already struggling with a wage bill of £35m NP is or has been asked out of necessity to do more with less. It is difficult. Failure to do it adequately combined with the associated points deductions relegated two clubs. It can put a club into a bit of a downward spiral, Reading came close to the drop too last year post cutbacks and deduction and they were top 6 contenders in 2020-21! Otoh I think we are better than the last two home games and in particular the 2nd half of these two games- I watched the highlights v Stoke last night we actually had some good chances and spells of pressure, nice build-up at times but the two goals we conceded were dreadful. We had to work significantly harder for our goal than Stoke did for either of theirs. @Merrick's Marvels Glad you mentioned Nottingham Forest. They were in a worse position than us FFP wise coming into last season yet the expenditure was night and day- I am puzzled as to how they had room to sack a manager and pay compensation for Cooper, sign some of those they did, no major sales and remain within FFP. Unless Carvalho to Olympiakos was their major sale.

The worst that could have happened to Bournemouth was a transfer embargo in December 2015 to remain in place until such time as they were compliant again had they stayed down. Points deduction for it did not exist then, neither did Future Financial Information, EFL 2 year Business Plans post fail, could go on. Was simply a fine if promoted and an embargo if not. By which time some players probably would have been sold and they would comply again. Certainly was never the case that if you lost over £15m in FFP in the prior 3 years you have to show the League your next 2 years of FFP projections. My suspicion is that this kicked in for us in summer 2021. I do sort of agree with your point though for 2008 may have been a good time. We could have banked both PL cash and Parachute money with a bigger roll of the dice that January. FFP didn't even exist then in any form. Stoke rolled the dice a bit.

They put the infrastructure in place quicker. Bloom had a new ground rolled out by 2011 which saw their turnover increase by 2.5-3 times overnight as it coincided wirh promotion to the Championship- that constitutes a major step forward, significant momentum. Think their average attendance just surged as well from Withdean to Amex coinciding with promotion. Otoh had we rolled the dice in January 2008 we certainly could have done it then. Cardiff spent big AND has the new ground in play by 2009 I think? More revenue. Swansea had a unique philosophy but also a new ground by 2005. You make your posts but without a great deal of context. We could get s new owner tomorrow, he would still have to demonstrate to the League how we would remain within FFP within the next 2 years as one of the Owners and Directors Test questions. EFL have the power to use such measures as they deem necessary to keep regulations upheld.

It is not a good time to buy when we are a) Battling relegation and b) New owners will inherit the current financial position. In the sense that if we have say £1m (ha!) to spend in January under the current ownership under FFP, we would have exactly the same under a new ownership. The EFL regs and our current FFP position see to that.

Just hope we don't get any kind of points deduction or FFP sanctions on top of the current issues. If not now then down the track. I am less worried than I was but it doesn't strike me as a done deal that we are clear.

I look back at the Watford game in mid November and thought that a) It was a a good reaction and b) I rather hoped that it set a benchmark moving forward. Sadly b) Has not been the case. We toughed it out at Rotherham but beyond that well the last two home games have been highly disappointing from this perspective.

All counts towards FFP, so highly doubt it is especially possible.

Were strong until maybe mid October, very happy they went down and much the same side who almost made playoffs previous year. They had a fantastically bad, perhaps record breaking in modern times run of no home win until late February 2021. Tbh just checked- sold Roberts, Cureton and Zamora that season- probably their downfall!

They were a side who seemed to start the season quite strongly then went into sharp decline and almost made the playoffs the year before so though I don't like them at all, you're possibly underselling it a bit. Them missing the playoffs was marvellous, they were top in mid to late March 2000 iirc and yet fell out on the last day, losing at an already relegated Cardiff.

Not especially bothered for Mbappe but ir does suggest that Argentina are relatively classless- don't deny they have and have had a lot of talented or firey players who give them that edge down the years.

Story in Times tonight, for all of Argentina's undoubtedly mix of gifted and spiky players dowm the years they can be very objectionable winners. Rather supports what @Sheltons Army said little while ago.

Fair but £15m?

Good game, atmosphere- just before Christmas. They scored after 27 seconds iirc! People are a bit binary on here about Wilson era IMO. Some decent things, some bad things football for good periods not bad but ultimately failed at the last once and arguably twice given that we finished 3rd in each of 2002-03 and 2003-04.

It eases my FFP concerns a little too, at least in terms of restriction on our activity. I know that the EFL withdrew approval from Derby and their activation of a year option on Marriott as his wage exceeded an embargo limit about 2 years ago but that's fairly unprecedented.

Easier work as a pundit/coach/job at an old club or wirh mates at an old club, more cash for less work- certainly pro rata. Nice warm studio or relatively cushy ambassadorial role eg on one hand, or officiating? From a money and ease of work perspective no brainer. That's forgetting that quite a lot of top flight definitely and quite a few Championship players in theory make enough to be made for life anyway over the course of their career. Tough sell! Of course it depends on the level, the earnings and the profile of the player. Lower down you go, the easier it might be to entice some.

In terms of cost and comparables- I don't know much about him but I see George Hall is linked with Leeds from Birmingham for £15m in January. How does this compare worth wise with say Semenyo- or are such comparisons a bit subjective and pointless. Sofascore says he is an 18 year old midfielder, 1 goal and 1 assist this season so far. Perhaps he has significant potential?

On FB, seen it suggested was 20 pct lower, Exiled Robin suggested 30 pct too.

He deserves it, has knuckled down when out of the side and delivered when in it. Seems to have worked well wirh Conway. It will save a bit on amortisation and presumably a wage reduction. Otoh he is 32- will be 33 next season and 34 in 2024-25 if still here- at what point will his effectiveness start to wane? Not a reflection on him, happens to all players.

Pertaining to our level, the accounts for Birmingham (both club and PLC), Millwall (Holdings and Club) and Bet365- thesr include numbers from 29th March 2021 until 30th March 2022 for Stoke- are due out and remain due out, by the end of the year.

Thanks Dave. Even then it's a pretty pathetic embargo given the amount that a) They appear to have been able to write off to Covid and b) Spend on players as a result. Their wage bill rising by nearly 20 pct in the full year of Covid-19 is a factor that is far from mitigating. Two full backs for a combined fee of £29m in January 2022, then El Ghazi and Van De Beek on loan, Alli albeit on a free initially. Yes Digne sold and Richarlison by end of June 2022. Benitez appointed summer 2021, not cheap- let alone sacking him and replacing wirh Lampard in January. James sold in summer and I suppose departures on free transfers, Begovic, Townsend, Rondon free and Gray for £1.7m- which is a fee. This summer: Tarkowski in- Free. McNeil- Burnley- £20m Onana- Lille- £33m Maupay- Brighton- £15m Garner- Man Utd- £15.5m Gueye- PSG- £2m Range of players out on loan and some will have left on frees but no big fee yet- huge fudge there, PL just seem to have rolled over and accepted absurd Covid losses. I was looking at Leicester the other day. They argued £50m in 2 years which for lost TV, PL, matchday and European revenue in 2020-21 seems eminently reasonable. Not per year but as a whole. Newcastle under £50m, Aston Villa a little over, a range of similar clubs within a similar range of losses. Then you have Everton who seem to be adding that theirs are at the lower level as high as the 3 above combined or maybe a third higher if at the higher level. Covid losses the same? Thanks will have a read, found very little detail in 2022-23 handbook.

Surely the way in which the Football League currently enforce FFP means that until we can freely spend again with the correct headroom- we will have little choice. For all we know we could be working under a Business Plan or other monitoring requirements right now (not an embargo of course).