The College Dropout

It's definitely not a beyond-obvious move this week for an -8 Bournemouth beat City and Arsenal at home and was the better team against us. I think their best games are to come. I wasn't convinced it was worth a further hit, and Isak against Wham is a better fixture than Bournemouth away. Maybe it's the obvious move with 3 FTs but not with 1. Worst rank in the last 3 seasons is 112k. That's enough to win most casual mini-leagues. I expect to do no worse than 250k in a game of 6m active players. I'm good at the game, sorry if that offends you pal.

Bottled doing a minus 8 to get Salah Isak and Joao Pedro. Only did the first 2 which has already paid off but JP would’ve been a fantastic hit already. The Champ is good at this game. Need to trust my gut more. Patience really worked out for me last season but I have to remember I actually liked my team which is why I could be patient. I need JP and Saka to be happy with my team. Then I can make small changes from there.

Missed the goal. But I’ve liked the look of him. Another Cobham grad I think

This is not entirely true. Most clubs have to invest vast sums to get onto the gravy train. When they get on it they want to be able to stay on it or rejoin quickly.

By having a squad that consistently finishes multiple places above its wage grade (and its squad cost). Buying players that can improve over time and be worth more than we paid in fee and paying in salary. Being able to sell prized assets and not miss a beat. If we can finish 2-4 places above our wage bill 4 out of the next 5 years we’ll have done brilliantly. I can’t emphasise enough how closely the league table mirrors the wage bill table. Most clubs are +- 2-3 spots year on year. Brentford have the 15th biggest squad spend. Overall they have not spent loads of money relative to the league. That angle is statistically false.

You can’t say ‘wages aside’. Wages are more important to success than transfer fees. Wages is what attracts players with proven track records of performing at the highest level. Real Madrid’s spend on transfers is not astronomical and behind a number of teams in Europe. But they are #1 in wages. Brentford are spending by PL standards, lowly sums and can only offer bottom level PL wages so the players they sign cannot be of massive repute or have proven track records. That should make them relegation candidates year in, year out. As are the other teams paying such low wages. I use this same metric to judge us. Our squad cost and wages has us 7th/8th. Anything more is an overachievement. Anything less is an underachievement.

Brentford have the third lowest wage bill in the division. Lower than Leicester and only above the other 2 promoted teams. Their squad cost in fees is 15th. They should be fighting relegation every season. But through transfers and great management they don’t. A lot of those are good players imo. The terrible GK aside most of them are 24 or under with room to improve. But look at the macro cost of the squad in fees and wages it’s unarguable that Brentford spend their money wisely.

No.. DCL is bad. He gets chances and misses them. His general play isn't even impressive. Lad is not good.

I don’t think people realise how bad DCL is. They think he’s super injury prone - he’s not. He’s just shit. 43 PL appearances since the start of last Season. 9 goals. Brentford are too smart to sign DCL. Signed Wissa, Toney and Mbeumo for a combined £20m. Wissa and Mbeumo have 7 and 8 goals this season already. We need to be more like Brentford but with a bigger budget.

Just not a big fan of the lad.

It’s only a year. Wasn’t his contract due to end this season? Could just have signed it to minimise speculation. If it was a long term deal I think it would be more consequential.

It wouldn’t like. This is the PSR trap. You need recurring revenue. 90m profit on Isak pays the PSR cost of 3 £50m players for 2 years. Years 3-5 we need to find another £45m of revenue growth just to pay for them. If we have a model of buy low and sell high potentially we can keep doing this until our revenue is consistently higher. But that would mean selling our best players and still regularly qualifying for big European competitions. We need to double our revenue to consistently compete with the cartel clubs. here’s to the rules changing.

The red tops will be against it. These rules mean they will forever have a financial advantage of the likes of us and Villa for players and managers. Their owners are in it to make money. Not spend it. On some level this is a vanity project for PIF. The ends will justify the means. If our club becomes a global brand like Man City or Chelsea, it will be worth more than money to PIF.

Think all the clubs involved in FFP shenanigans with maybe Everton as an exception have owners that would pump money into clubs via inflated sponsorships if possible - no? Forest Chelsea Us Villa Leicester That would leave us 2 short of preventing crappy rules. We’ll find out soon enough.

Someone a few pages back suggested £80m would be a decent fee. It was only one person mind.

Knew it would happen. He’s a baller. I said it last season - he was probably 4-6 weeks too late getting into the team from making the England squad for the Euros.

I mean…. He did only get game time towards the end due to having zero first team options. I found people thinking we were playing contractual games funny. From the outset of the transfer it was widely reported his loan conditions were minimal. It was clear Howe just thought he wasn’t ready or didn’t rate him. His appearances early in the season was evidence he wasn’t ready.

I think he could be a CF. Hes got the ability to score scruffy goals. Movement and desire is more important than ball striking. When he’s confident he’s a composed finisher. But I wouldn’t expect him to score the types of goals Barnes scores with the sams level of efficiency. At least not now.

Yeh his fee is just about correct. But Isak is a level better and the fee should reflect that. Kolo Muani went for £80m last year too. Off the back of a single 15 goal season in the Bundesliga and a good World Cup. These are al good players in my book. But if Isak puts another 20-goal season up, any selling fee next summer needs to reflect he’s a level above and a surer-bet.

Thought he was decent against Forest personally. I have different expectations of him and Barnes. I don’t expect Gordon to be as ruthless in the final third as Barnes. He’s not consistently shown that ability in his career. I do think he could be sharper in that area this season. And I expect him to be in position to score more scruffy goals than he has so far. Barnes is a finisher. He’s ball striking is considerably cleaner. But I don’t expect the same level of work rate, tracking back, being a constant menace on the ball as Gordon. That’s not his game.

He clearly thinks he could at some point. He's mentioned it before. With his skill set and age I think it’s a viable option in a way that it isn’t for a player like Schar.

£100m is the norm for a 25-year-old striker who has scored 40 goals in 78 games for a PL team. Who is noted for his speed, technical skill, and composure and has three years left on his contract. You are right that he may be priced out of a move next summer. Because to me £80 only starts to look a decent price with 2 years left on his contract.

Atletico always have vast sums of money to spend on players. Lots of Atletico deals look dodgy. Ditto Juventus. Isak is a viable option for any elite club. There’s a market for him if he performs imo. 3 of them in the PL.

Man City/Real, Barca (Lewa is 36), Juventus, Atleti, Man U, Chelsea, a random Italian club might have money. A couple clubs could easily be in for him. There’s so few strikers around. PSR for clubs might be the bigger issue. I think PSR is a big reason Man U or Chelsea might not get involved.

Agreed. To me £100m is the start of the convo. Jackson will come good mind. Maybe Rasmus too. Havertz is a decent player.