Wage budget

[Shauntaylor85]

Do we need to consider letting or or two go to bring in better? For example some of the higher earners? Williams is the standout for me, we could trade him for a more creative midfield player which we desperately need! Maybe we also need to accept Cornick/Wells to be sacrificed for a better forward player until Tommy returns. 

[Ivorguy]

Guess this is the owner shutting the wallet.

Seriously fear a tough season ahead, and Nige not wishing to extend his contract in such a situation

[Tim Monaghan]

I fear the same at the moment, or at least until Tommy returns. 

 

[daored]

Pearson’s recent comments about us effectively being at our maximum for our wage budget, is a concern on two fronts; firstly in terms of bringing players in now to fill gaps within our squad (short / longer term) and secondly tying down our better players onto longer deals.

As a club we must have significantly reduced our wage bill with the loss of Kalas , Palmer, DaSilva, Bentley and reduced terms for Weinmann and Wells.

Our squad is currently made up of players from our own academy plus lower league players (Sykes, Mehmeti) who you’d suspect would be on relatively comparable low wages. With the exception of some of the older pros how are we still at our max on wages? How can we tempt the likes of Conway, Vyner etc into new contracts with such perceived small headroom or attract new players ? 

[daored]

24 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

Guess this is the owner shutting the wallet.

Seriously fear a tough season ahead, and Nige not wishing to extend his contract in such a situation

I hope if this is a decision to cut the funding , it doesn’t result us going as that would be far more costly than releasing some funds for our current shortcomings 

[BCFCGav]

Problem with this is, the quality we have isn't the issue (imo), it's the depth. Therefore getting one out to bring one in changes nothing.

Ideally we could have sold a young midfield prospect for 25 million and used that money to pad out the squad where it needs it. Oh wait...! 

(For clarity - this is a dig at Mr L and not OP).

[Merrick's Marvels]

Just now, BCFCGav said:

Problem with this is, the quality we have isn't the issue (imo)

Out of interest, what position do you think we'll finish in?

[Merrick's Marvels]

17 minutes ago, daored said:

With the exception of some of the older pros how are we still at our max on wages? 

Because we've set it too low?

(And to be clear - I'm not advocating we pay anyone £20K a week in the Championship ever again)

Edited August 30, 2023 by Merrick's Marvels

[BCFCGav]

6 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Out of interest, what position do you think we'll finish in?

With no one out/in? I'd guess around 13th.

[GrahamC]

52 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Do we need to consider letting or or two go to bring in better? For example some of the higher earners? Williams is the standout for me, we could trade him for a more creative midfield player which we desperately need! Maybe we also need to accept Cornick/Wells to be sacrificed for a better forward player until Tommy returns. 

Williams played well yesterday & in the games I’ve seen he’s done ok.

We are talking here therefore about trading someone who has featured in every single game.

See the problem? Basically NP is shuffling the same 15 or 16, so even if Williams moved on, we are still at the same number.

I can’t see a logical case for anything that leaves us with exactly the same squad size, the bottom line is we are 2 light of what we need.

[Tomo]

We need cover at GK, CB and CF...

The simple summary is...

Mr Lansdown is not showing any intent to support Nigel Pearson, whilst we all know that we need cover in these positions. I feel for the manager especially when we have sold 35 Million of talent recently in Semenyo and Scott. 

It's a poor move by our owner not to support him. We are not talking about spending huge amounts of money to get that cover in, whether that's loan or permanent signings. It must be so frustrating for NP, when he knows that Little Lee had a open cheque book (which was the wrong thing to do clearly). 

I don't think Nige has a reputation of wasting money at any of his previous clubs and whilst he was aware of our financial position when he was appointed, there must be an air of frustration creeping in now, in view that we have sold 2 of our most valuable assets. 

I think it's naughty of SL not to give him some kind budget to get the cover in those key positions. For example, if we get injuries to players like Max, Vyner and Nahki, (alongside our other injuries), we are going to be struggling imo. 

Tomo   

[RedRoss]

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Do we need to consider letting or or two go to bring in better? For example some of the higher earners? Williams is the standout for me, we could trade him for a more creative midfield player which we desperately need! Maybe we also need to accept Cornick/Wells to be sacrificed for a better forward player until Tommy returns. 

Sorry Shaun I understand your concerns and I also think we need a creative midfield player and potentially a striker until Conway is back.

However what your suggesting is swapping (that rarely seems to happen these days) Williams who is likely on decent wages in a position we are very light on already creative or otherwise, Wells who is contracted at 33 for two more years and Cornick who's been here less that a year all within less than 48 hours. This isn't going to happen.

[Merrick's Marvels]

9 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

With no one out/in? I'd guess around 13th.

Yes, thanks. Only interested as I think a lack of quality is an issue, although agree that we lack depth too.

I agree we're heading for mid-table - at best - but would suggest the reason most teams finish there is because they lack quality (amongst other things).

A separate point - but we continue to be blighted by injuries to key players which really doesn't hhelp. This season - Conway and Weimann already, Naismith in pre-season, Atkinson still out - would all be starters in most people's teams.   

[RedRoss]

44 minutes ago, daored said:

Pearson’s recent comments about us effectively being at our maximum for our wage budget, is a concern on two fronts; firstly in terms of bringing players in now to fill gaps within our squad (short / longer term) and secondly tying down our better players onto longer deals.

As a club we must have significantly reduced our wage bill with the loss of Kalas , Palmer, DaSilva, Bentley and reduced terms for Weinmann and Wells.

Our squad is currently made up of players from our own academy plus lower league players (Sykes, Mehmeti) who you’d suspect would be on relatively comparable low wages. With the exception of some of the older pros how are we still at our max on wages? How can we tempt the likes of Conway, Vyner etc into new contracts with such perceived small headroom or attract new players ? 

Perhaps we've factored in players new prospective wages in our wage structure and that is the limit. It would be silly to arrange a wage budget and not consider new renewal of wages.

[Shauntaylor85]

11 minutes ago, Tomo said:

We need cover at GK, CB and CF...

The simple summary is...

Mr Lansdown is not showing any intent to support Nigel Pearson, whilst we all know that we need cover in these positions. I feel for the manager especially when we have sold 35 Million of talent recently in Semenyo and Scott. 

It's a poor move by our owner not to support him. We are not talking about spending huge amounts of money to get that cover in, whether that's loan or permanent signings. It must be so frustrating for NP, when he knows that Little Lee had a open cheque book (which was the wrong thing to do clearly). 

I don't think Nige has a reputation of wasting money at any of his previous clubs and whilst he was aware of our financial position when he was appointed, there must be an air of frustration creeping in now, in view that we have sold 2 of our most valuable assets. 

I think it's naughty of SL not to give him some kind budget to get the cover in those key positions. For example, if we get injuries to players like Max, Vyner and Nahki, (alongside our other injuries), we are going to be struggling imo. 

Tomo   

It appears from afar that the owner or board has never really showed much love for Nige, let’s be honest. Just get that feeling. Aside from Gould who I thought built a positive relation, his leaving is a bigger blow than we thought. PA came to the club with a strong PL pedigree, we have not heard from him, JL as chairman or SL since the season commenced. SL each year did an interview on RB as did the CEO with Geoff T, none of that is happening now. It can’t be because Geoff has retired and was the one pushing it!

The fans were pushing hard for the Nige appointment at the time and overall he has retained much support from the fan base because we can see what a tough rebuild he has had on his hands. The fact he developed Scott and Semenyo to £35M approx of sales and is doing the same with other talent like Vyner, Pring etc, he is ticking the box of having to coach better as quoted by our owner in the past and also utilise the academy depth which he has done more than any other manager. Indeed look at the amount of talent LJ loaned out and pushed to one side to instead buy the likes of Marley Watkins and Gustav Engvall!

He’s done what was required wage bill wise and now I think they are content to see what happens knowing they can make a change at end of the season with the contract or low risk to do it before.

We know as a fan base that if backed by Friday to bring in one or two in the final third, we can have a reasonable season of success. Failure to do so leaves a bad feeling and has the hallmark of a relegation battle which I fear could end in the wrong management change (eg return of LJ or a Nathan Jones!) and a disaster on our hands to undo all the hard work of last few years. 
 

Plus…..we are still charging non members £44 a ticket!

Edited August 30, 2023 by Shauntaylor85

[CyderHead92]

I honestly think our clubs become a bit of a joke in some respects. Lansdown is well and truly sticking up 2 fingers to Nige. Used and abused him massively. All so mr Lansdown can sell the club more easily and make it more attractive on a purely financial aspect. He’s as they say on the beach already. Downed tools. 

[BCFCGav]

20 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Yes, thanks. Only interested as I think a lack of quality is an issue, although agree that we lack depth too.

I agree we're heading for mid-table - at best - but would suggest the reason most teams finish there is because they lack quality (amongst other things).

A separate point - but we continue to be blighted by injuries to key players which really doesn't hhelp. This season - Conway and Weimann already, Naismith in pre-season, Atkinson still out - would all be starters in most people's teams.   

Definitely take your point. I think the bottom paragraph is nail on the head. With them - I think the squad just needs some padding (the depth issue). Without them, as we are, I can definitely see the argument regarding needing quality in. 

 

[robinforlife2]

At the end of the season, at this moment in time, Williams, Vyner and possibly Weimann all depart, this will see two of our biggest earners depart. We will probably sell another of the young guns as well. I also expect to see Nige leave as well.

The question will be, what war chest will be given in the summer and what league will we be in.

I thought we had solid chances of being a top 10 team this season, but if anything, it feels like we are cutting back more now, than we have over the last two years. It feels like we are putting all our chips on the academy producing the talent. I honestly feel, we could get dragged into a relegation battle, because of mis-management at the top. 

I've been very pro Lansdown in the past, but I am starting to think, he needs to sell to someone with ambition, something he clearly has given up on. 

[brad blit]

I answered a similar question in another thread recently and said this -

"In terms of answering this ‘theoretical’ question in the most basic manner, I think the best player to sell to free up wages would be Wells. Not scored a goal in open play for over 20 games, one of our biggest earners and one of older players. If I was playing Champ Manager, I’d sell him and use his wages (plus revenue from Scott sale) to buy 1 strong quick striker to lead the line (Like Afobe, Akpom) and another young specialised centre back"

[Super]

48 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

With no one out/in? I'd guess around 13th.

That's hugely ambitious. We are a team that creates very little which puts huge pressure on us keeping clean sheets.

[Wrongagain]

3 minutes ago, brad blit said:

I answered a similar question in another thread recently and said this -

"In terms of answering this ‘theoretical’ question in the most basic manner, I think the best player to sell to free up wages would be Wells. Not scored a goal in open play for over 20 games, one of our biggest earners and one of older players. If I was playing Champ Manager, I’d sell him and use his wages (plus revenue from Scott sale) to buy 1 strong quick striker to lead the line (Like Afobe, Akpom) and another young specialised centre back"

Wells is not a CF full stop, he is at best an opportunist who sometimes manages to get it right, the current holder of the 9 shirt is not the answer either, his positioning is way off - when we are in possession he quite often looks like he's marking the opposition rather than attacking! Hopefully TC will come back firing on all cylinders! 

[Northern Red]

Play a bit of Football Manager, piece of piss.

[Davefevs]

If we look at the accounts, the football club wage bill (not just the players) was:

20/21: £30.251m (peak)

21/22: £23.807m (Nige first full season / influence over wage budget) net £6.4m

22/23: not published, but say it was £22.000m - net £8m on 20/21

23/24: not published, but say it is around £19.000m - net £11m on 20/21

That means he’s saved £25m over 3 seasons.  The wage budget is now in the realms of 2016/17 season.

That is hardly conducive to gearing up for a top 6 challenge is it.  In fact based on historical accounts it puts us around bottom 6-8…Luton territory!  The trajectory of Luton’s spend was upwards, ours is downward.

Yours sincerely,

Worried of Downend 

[robinforlife2]

12 minutes ago, brad blit said:

I answered a similar question in another thread recently and said this -

"In terms of answering this ‘theoretical’ question in the most basic manner, I think the best player to sell to free up wages would be Wells. Not scored a goal in open play for over 20 games, one of our biggest earners and one of older players. If I was playing Champ Manager, I’d sell him and use his wages (plus revenue from Scott sale) to buy 1 strong quick striker to lead the line (Like Afobe, Akpom) and another young specialised centre back"

Hmmm, scored on Friday night .......... from open play .........

[Red white and red]

54 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

With no one out/in? I'd guess around 13th.

I’d be amazed if City finished 13th. The players brought in are decent enough, but not a huge upgrade on quality. The players gone have left a huge hole. If there are no further ins and outs, I’d be looking at 17th or 18th. City look far weaker this season already. Reliance on Conway returning, which isn’t until December is a shambles of a decision. Half of the season is gone by then. 

[exAtyeoMax]

6 minutes ago, robinforlife2 said:

Hmmm, scored on Friday night .......... from open play .........

He obviously wrote that on a thread before last Friday 

[brad blit]

10 minutes ago, robinforlife2 said:

Hmmm, scored on Friday night .......... from open play .........

Haha you are right - I had wrote this last weekend I believe answering another question on the forum. It was more of a generic "which player could we trade to make another signing?"

[frenchred]

14 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

If we look at the accounts, the football club wage bill (not just the players) was:

20/21: £30.251m (peak)

21/22: £23.807m (Nige first full season / influence over wage budget) net £6.4m

22/23: not published, but say it was £22.000m - net £8m on 20/21

23/24: not published, but say it is around £19.000m - net £11m on 20/21

That means he’s saved £25m over 3 seasons.  The wage budget is now in the realms of 2016/17 season.

That is hardly conducive to gearing up for a top 6 challenge is it.  In fact based on historical accounts it puts us around bottom 6-8…Luton territory!  The trajectory of Luton’s spend was upwards, ours is downward.

Yours sincerely,

Worried of Downend 

Yep, the Fuhrer has pulled up the drawbridge all while making us pretty unsaleable!

[robinforlife2]

Just now, brad blit said:

Haha you are right - I had wrote this last weekend I believe answering another question on the forum. It was more of a generic "which player could we trade to make another signing?"

My issue would be, in moving on Wells. At present he is our best chance of goals, and I don't think he would be replaced easily. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

One comment that caught the eye in the Murphy story was that it stated the wage budget was as agreed in March. If that's true it won't come as a shock to NP.

Anyone got any ideas?

Edited August 30, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous