The College Dropout

For comparisons Spurs revenue is 2.5x ours. That gives them 2.5x the amount to invest in the squad if their owners wish. Spurs choose to be profitable or close. If their position among the elite was under threat they would invest heavily. Which they’ve started to do but have kept wages relatively low for them. Tbis is for their last CL season and doesn’t include ours. But the revenue gap between the clubs is going to be massive. The gap is massive.

The teams with significantly more ability to invest in their squads than the rest of the division. It’s almost impossible to compete long-term with them.

New CL format is brutal imo. and the minimum wage gap to Arsenal who were 6th in wages is £48m. £64m to Spurs. 170m to Man U. 210m to Liverpool. 240m to Chelsea. £260m to City. the wage bill of City and Chelsea is literally more than double ours. The gap to the genuine top 6 is gigantic. All of them bar Arsenal and Spurs should be able to handle European football with ease. I think Arsenal new wages will be much higher now but you can see why tough European away games and a few injuries did them in. The combined wages of Brentford and us is less than the big 4 clubs.

Sorry the Champ will continue to select by committee this season. It’s a game bud. I will get back to being a patient manager though. I’m ok with my attack for now - just the lack of depth. Tempted to get TAA but that will take my entire budget. Only 1FT so maybe forced to roll the following week. VVD gives me a little more budget but too close in price when TAA is a far superior asset imo. But would allow me to pad the bench out a bit more. Gomez was shit and got subbed. So not confident between who starts out of him Quansah. I swear Quansah started the season ahead of Gomez and Konate??? So I think Slot rates him high.

Forest owner talking about his ambitions and PSR. Not watched yet. edit: doesnt talk much about PSR

It’s factually the 7th/8th most expensive. Everyone seems to think our transfers have been good if unbalanced. 7/8 is about right, a little lower considering a lack of transfers maybe is ok. For me anyway. Don’t know about the owners.

We are good when we have space in behind to attack. Fast transitions. Especially at home against bigger sides. We’ve faced 4 of the top 5 at home, non away. Away from home against a midtable club that would be happy to nick it 1-0 or 0-0 we’ve largely been pants.

The week or two after that picture leaked he had the spat at Bournemouth.

I actually think Gordon doesn’t protect Hall that well. I would’ve been tempted to start both Joes against Liverpool but that definitely wasn’t the right decision (i would’ve assumed TAA started). But we should’ve got Willock on at 2-1 or whenever Trent came on. But Hall can play with Bruno, Joe, Gordon or Isak. Lives Longstaff Murphy is so ugly I never want to see it from the start again. Livra must accept some responsibility for how bad that football is.

Great defensively imo. going forward he’s a good ball carrier and dribbler. But often poor with his passing and delivery. I think he should try more inside runs and cutbacks. When he’s wide I’ve got no faith in his delivery. Doesn’t have a great relationship with any players down his side but the options there haven’t impressed. I can someone like Isak prefers to drift left. I like him and he’s usually solid defensively but he does have to work on his game.

Thought he was pretty poor through the December to the end of the season. When was it that Spurs cooked us? He was awful against Son.

Almost got the brace. Jackson didn’t even get a minute. See you boys next season. (I’m still going hard).

He’s always done this imo. A game will turn but the game state will be ok so Howe won’t react until we conceded. Then he’ll make the subs he should’ve made 10 minutes earlier. I’ve learnt to live with it. Sometimes it works.

As someone that finds Jordan entertaining - why would Eddie sit down and chat with him?

I don't think "fluffing us" is a good idea. It raises expectations and contributes to an inferior atmosphere if the team doesn't meet those expectations. It also doesn't align with why Howe is so focussed on Prem proven players. Or his general demeanour and perspective. Atm that sounds like wishful thinking. I also agree that i don't think the money is there to spend because of our PSR issues. But that's largely the Owners' fault. They still might be targeting a top 5-7 finish. We did achieve it with less.

I think he's played fairly fatigued for a long time now which isn't helping his mobility, speed and athleticism. I remember when people were in denial about his lack of athleticism he's a brilliant player but that much was obvious from the compilations.

I hope a pivot has happened. At the end of last season after finishing 7th messaging from leadership was one of understanding disappointment imo. Summer discussion of "improving the group" again makes me think Howe only wants significant upgrades because he has aggressive targets. I've no evidence that we are dialling back the short-term ambitions - except potentially the recruitment of Mitchell. Howe's behaviour and attitude is only logical if we have Europe as a real target.

Eales mentioned finishing in Europe as the goal several times. Why would we chase a £60m CB or sign 2 players over £50m+ (with no PSR fuckery like Onana) if finishing in Europe isn't an explicit goal? Why would Howe be so keen to keep his experienced players? I agree that we haven't made moves off the pitch to faciliate that as a goal. Aye. I fear for Howe's job if we finish 9th. i don't think that's an awful finish considering 7-8th is par and the squad is unbalanced and stale.

The wage bill is a problem though. Which is why we want to sell many a high-earner. Trippier, Wilson, Targett - all bad business at this point.

I agree with this. But we've given Gordon the supermax contract and committed to him. We've made our bed. I think it's the right choice too profile wise. But agree Barnes might actually be the better player. Unrelated - I think Villa have gone about the PSR thing the right way in the summer. Sold players at prime age. Brought in youngsters. And they are still struggling. Fact is, to sustain CL and league position you do need a bigger budget. Young players in and older out is the only route but it is still a v. tough one. I understand why Howe wanted to keep his senior lads. Villa would be better off with Luiz & Diaby in the squad but the game is rigged. I like that winger they sold and rebought but Diaby would offer more.

I think it's the owners demanding Europe that is making Howe behave like that. He showed at Bournemouth he'll take a high potential kid and develop him. For the sake of squad building, selling players at peak age is needed.

I think Barnes would be a top 10 earner at the club or close. More than Livra, Hall, Burn, Longstaff, Willock, Almiron, Murphy etc. Earned more than Gordon pre-contract I would be confident. Potential higher earners: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon, Isak, Wilson, Kelly, Targett, Tonali. The only players that don't start regularly that I would expect to earn close to him or more are Kelly, Trippier, Targett and Wilson. 3 of which we'd happily sell.

You can’t have a £40m+ player on good wages sitting on the bench while you start Murphy RW. We don’t have the budget for 18 proven top quality players. We need a younger squad profile with high potential youngsters on the bench.

Honestly a nice differential. If you’ve had the stomach for him so long. Why not keep him? Decent captain option too. I lost the stomach awhile ago. But he will come back. I’ll just need to see it first.

Isak’s going. You can thank me for an Isak brace. He’ll then rise in value ahead of 4 of the easiest fixtures a striker could have. We’ve just been shit against poorer opposition. I think something is fundamentally wrong with us this season. Or at least I’m not convinced we’ve turned the corner