Unbelievable

2/10

For one because I think the PL will soon realise they’ve fallen behind La Liga and Real Madrid in particular, with these rules hurting their own competition. Even the likes of Liverpool and Man U are starting to complain (as it restricts them too), so sooner or later this ruleset will be cast aside, be it through legal challenge or for competitive reasons.

In 20 years these rules also won’t exist anymore. A lot of things will be very different. Hopefully by then we will have some trophies in our cabinet.

The way I see it there is no such thing as the "big six". Twenty years ago we would have been part of such a group and you would have laughed at the suggestion of Man City leading the pack. If we manage to get/keep a foothold in the top of the PL that means other clubs drop out of those positions and will become less attractive to prospective sponsors. It will be exceedingly hard, and the board absolutely is stacked against us, but things are not set in stone and I have complete trust in our owners and managers to have us continue to overachieve.

Over-achieving, as we have been doing in the past 2-3 years. Unless the rules change it's the only way, and truth be told I'd much prefer if we succeeded that way than Chelsea or Man City style even if it is bound to take a lot more time.

Mate, commercial revenue grew 66% last financial year (and that was before Sela and Adidas). I think you may be confusing commercial revenue and overall revenue. The potential to increase our commercial revenue is massive. As for the point of the rules hampering our ascension to the top, I am well aware of that as I am sure you know. Still, if we are to compete with the likes of Arsenal it will have to be through over-achievement on the pitch (so far so good despite a hickup last season) and bringing in improved and new commercial deals that will allow our owners (under these wretched rules) to invest into the squad to keep the over-achievement going. None of that is highly controversial or revelatory is it?

Again, I respectfully disagree. "Real" sponsors (sick) will come when our overall profile is consistently one of a club qualifying for Champions League or other European competitions. I also don't think it is valid to suggest Middle Eastern or even SA sponsors cannot be real. Obviously us being PIF owned has raised our profile in that part of the world, making us a more attractive prospective partner to companies that operate in that part of the world. I understand some of this stuff could be turbocharged in ways PSG and Man City have done in the past, but there is also a natural progression. A club doing well and having an affiliation with a certain demography and demographic is more likely to attract sponsorship than a club aiming driftlessly as we have done before the takeover. As such, to suggest the commercial team is only here for when we make the big time is nonsensical as their efforts are vital to us ever making the big time in the first place.

Apologies, I phrased that wrong; should have said "by" instead of "to". As you say by competing at the top end of the table (which this squad should be capable of) that should raise our commercial profile and result in improved commercial revenue, which in turn should lead to more investment on the pitch (seeing as investment is linked to revenue by reason of PSR rules).

Not sure if you are entirely serious. This is how our revenue stacks up: Our commercial revenue is less than a quarter of the "top six" clubs. If we manage to lift our overall sporting profile by consistently competing at the top end of the table (let's say qualify for European football) that will raise our commercial profile and with the right people in place get us to improve existing deals and bring in better replacement deals. I don't think it fanciful at all that as a club we increase our commercial revenue by over 50% year on year. Even in a saturated market we should get closer to what the established top clubs are getting as and when our profile becomes more attractive.

Lovely jinx

Disagree. We have so much headroom in our commercial revenue. As a team we are there or thereabouts with some of the "top six" clubs, in terms of commercial revenue they still blow us out of the water, mainly thanks to 15 years of Ashley not being bothered in the slightest to make us look appealing to corporations as a commercial partner. Instead of a skeleton crew we now have a commercial team with some of the best in the business, and it will bear fruit.

Thank God we've not ended up paying silly money out of desperation. Now here's hoping we get by until January without further major injuries to CB, and then we can invest far more wisely.

Seeing as this transfer window is drawing to a close, and trying to make sense of our (lack of) transfer dealings, I decided to have a look at what our squad will look like next season based on current contract length. Per position I have marked what I think of players that are good enough for a team aiming for CL in bold, marked the ones with expiring contracts strike-through and the ones with running contracts who I consider solid squad players as normal text. GK: Pope (2026) Vlachodimos (?) Dubravka (2025) Ruddy (2025) Gillespie (2025) DR: Livramento (2028) Trippier (2026) Krafth (2025) possibly extended DC: Botman (2027) Kelly (2029) Schar (2025) possibly extended Burn (2025) possibly extended Lascelles (2025) probably not extended due to being injury prone DL: Hall (?) Targett (2026) Lewis (2025) MC: Joelinton (?) Tonali (2028) Bruno (2028) Willock (2027) Longstaff (2026) Lewis Miley (?) AMR: Murphy (2027) Almiron (2026) AML: Gordon (?) Barnes (2028) ST: Isak (2028) Wilson (2025) probably not extended due to being injury prone Osula (?) The likes of Kuol, Ashby, etc. I've left out as it doesn't look like they will be good enough to be members of the first team. The likes of Alex Murphy, Jamie Miley, Shahar, Sanusi, etc. I've not included as it is unclear whether they will develop into useful squad players or not. I think this puts into perspective the magnitude of the overhaul we face between now and this time next year. We'll need: a solid squad/development GK depending on short extensions of Schar and Burn between 1 and 3 CD, probably at least one starter potentially a left back (depending on how we view Kelly) potentially a solid squad/development CM a first team right winger a solid squad/development striker In terms of PSR we're likely to have reasonable breathing room, but in today's market you'd easily be looking at >250m in transfer fees I'd imagine. Next summer is going to be extremely busy, especially if we fail to fill any of these positions this window.

To suggest we’ve only got Sela in is not a valid criticism like. It falls at the very first hurdle of being obviously factually incorrect.

Hopefully that will be a catalyst for our season, because it’s not been a great start

GTFI

Yes!!!

Told yas

This guy looks nervous

Get in!

It’s over

Ffs Joelinton, what was that?

Uhrm Nick, you are allowed to stay on your feet until they take the pen

Isak

I quite fancy us on pens here. Let’s do this!