WilliamPS

This wouldn’t work, as sponsors can give whatever money they want, they are not restricted. Just the Clubs can’t use it in their PSR calculations. The sponsorship rule definitely has its weak points and City seem to think it can be challenged though

Tbh I’m not surprised Ashley said that, he hired a lapdog and wasn’t going to take it yapping at him.

Spurs should have won the PL the year Leicester did, they bottled it. But I think that was the year they were definite contenders

Overly pessimistic IMO, and I also think we should be seeing regular European football. Missed out this season only by the finest of margins and unusual circumstances. Without European games a finish of 5th place or so is totally achievable even with the financial constraints. The team has the 7th biggest budget, and 7th usually gets Europe. The gap to the teams above has already been massively reduced - which also means the gap to the teams below has also increased

This summer city had the Alvarez cash but presumably couldn’t find a player that matched the profile they wanted, but generally Man City’s PSR issues come from their enormous salaries. Talk Haaland gets 375k (19m per year) on basic but bonuses can bump that to 800k (40m per year). In his salary alone it’s a PSR cost way more than Isak and Bruno combined. Then also have KDB allegedly on 400k pw, and I’d imagine Ederson, Walker, Stones, Rhodri, Foden, Grealish, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva etc etc are all on north of 150k pw. It all adds up and means their ability to pay multiple big transfer fees is quite limited.

Lol You can’t say we aren’t fucked on the basis Murphy can play there. Trying to get CL football with Murphy as the RB would be a disaster.

Had to go a long way to find a team that hadn’t seen him play

Always seeing a goal, winning most home games and every game being competitive has made going to games such a great experience, and for me is one reason match going fans are not as neurotic as internet fans. It was so depressing treking up so SJP to get battered by someone like Brighton, sneak wins against shit teams and get pulverised by the top teams

Seedorf, Kazim Richards and Lewis, one of these is not like the others!

I’m staggered but thrilled for him. Hope he has a lovely time over there. Also delighted there’ll be no risk of him in a black and white shirt again.

Except for absolutely everything? The club has a chairman trying to pump as much cash as allowable in, and two execs whose job is to build a title contending club? I.e the total fucking opposite to the Ashley years?

Next two games are wolves and Fulham away. Tricky but very winnable, as both are average sides but at home, take 4 or 6 points from those and SJP will be a cauldron for the Man City game. This is how great seasons start…

-Unbeaten, two home wins and one away draw -Into next round of cup -Gordon, Isak and Barnes have all opened their accounts -Tonali being reintegrated -Got through Schars ban unscathed. Its a good start to the season!

In the end the Halls took a lot out, but without the upfront investment (that is now banned) none of it would have been possible. I was there in the promotion season, there wasn’t even stands at the gallogate and leazes, the revenue must have been abysmal. None of the signings would have been possible. Yes the Halls did the float and took a load out, but that was much later, it would never have got off the ground

Issue with FFP reform is it doesn’t just protect the clubs at the very top. It also protects clubs who are quite happy to sit in the bottom half of the PL as it prevents well funded challengers from the championship. Look at Forest, an ambitious owner willing to spend and its points deductions for them. The fairytale has been cancelled What Newcastle did in the 90s, Fulham in the 2000s, Brighton, Leicester etc etc all now banned. The benefactor owner is outlawed. There are a few clubs who will appreciated the promoted clubs having one hand tied behind their backs and continue to support it.

Tonali is clearly the better player but Howes judgement is Tonali isn’t ready possibly mentally, possibly physically to start - that’s ok with me. He will be after the international break I’m sure. Today I hope we see a 30 minute appearance. Trippier and Tonali refreshing the right hand side after 60-70minutes is a real opportunity

He was the worst full back defensively I’ve ever seen play for Newcastle, and there’s a lot of company there. Positionally awful. It was the 0-3 loss at home to Brighton in 2020 were he got rinsed over and over. Probably didn’t help that ASM was the left winger so not much cover, but it was clear he couldn’t defend. He wasn’t dropped, he kept his place in the team

I’d cut them a break on sales. For me, Anderson was a good sale, as was ASM, good players but not what the team needed or quite at the level needed. Shelvey and Wood were also moved on for decent fees. But beyond those I’m not sure there’s many players who are both sellable and non-core to the team. Players like Miggy and Wilson get mentioned but I just don’t think anyone has credibly came in for them. There’s Willock, but his injury record might be off putting. Lascelles may have gone if he wasn’t injured. The squad had such a bad age profile when the takeover went through, the players left behind were not just not good enough they were also old.

If Barnes isn’t RW I’d prefer Miggy to Murphy and use Trips/Tino for the width. I’d go Trips as I think the team needs his on pitch leadership, especially the back four. I think we’ll see Longstaff starting with Tonali off the bench, but if Tonali is ready I’d stick him in, Howe will have taken a view there.

These Mitchell / Howe conspiracy theories are mental. Mitchell hasn’t arrived and thought “what I’d really like as the sporting director of this club is a dreadful run of results, which will screw hopes of Europe and lead to star players leaving, so I can sack the manager and get someone else in” I guarantee he hopes beyond hope Howe delivers CL football again. That would make his life much easier. If he wants his own people he can do that anyway next summer

They absolutely shouldn’t do some joint press conference to explain a transfer window. That would be crazy, it’s a football club not a reality TV show. Reviews should be internal, and talking done on the pitch

Fair point, however progressing a few more stages and winning games would have made it a lot closer. I think a CL win is £2m prize money alone. Having a few more games with gate receipts, tv money etc may have made it so it was only Anderson or whatever.

Probably expected to drop into the EL instead of coming 4th in the CL group and so having a lot more revenue and to finish higher in the league, gaining more prize money

AS did great things but you can’t have two CEO’s, if she didn’t want to do it ultimately she was always going to have to take a backseat. Can’t have two pairs of hands on the steering wheel. Within the set up the transfer strategy probably isn’t really the CEOs job, beyond agreeing the budgets and squad salary cap. Going all in on Guehi for example doesn’t sound like that’s a decision from Eales, they will have been taken by the committee but those decisions must come from the football side of the operation. Eales job is to sort the club as a business, that’s the metric to judge him on. Revenue, commercial success, stadium, infrastructure etc.

Be a shame if Fraser, Hayden and Lewis are all hanging round the training ground for another year