Keegans Export

But it was hardly the first time a rich owner came in to buy success though? Admittedly the sums involved go up with time but there has always been rich clubs trying to spend their way to trophies, some are good at it some are bad at it, and less rich clubs who well run and less rich clubs which are poorly run.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to win the Conference League but it's not a major trophy. League titles, Champions Leagues and cup competitions like the FA Cup or UEFA Cup I'd say are. The Conference League is more like the League Cup - it's still a trophy at the end of the day, but if you've got high aspirations they don't stop at one of those.

It's a strange one. His value to us is probably higher than you'd normally expect for a full-back who will be 34 early next season. Transfermarkt have him at £9.5m which on the face of it is probably ok but is it worth it for us to lose someone who is clearly such a good leader?

I thought Lascelles was out of contract at the end of the season? Obviously there's nothing stopping them paying £5m or whatever for the extra 4 months you'd get but perhaps they're just talking to him about moving in the summer?

I don't think it should be a surprise that we are doubling down. Howe has seen his high-intensity, press like maniacs style get us into the Champions League, demolish multiple good sides (including PSG). What he wants is as many players who can fit seamlessly into that plan as possible. Gordon runs himself into the ground for 60mins, Barnes comes on. Willock wears himself out after 70mins, Longstaff comes on etc. We haven't been able to do that this season because of injuries, suspension and lack of depth - clearly he thinks that adding depth will allow us to play at that pace for 90mins multiple times per week and that that is the best route for success.

This is correct. The most recent period (the one Everton and Forest are in bother over) is 20/21 21/22 and 22/23. The next period is 21/22, 22/23 and 23/24 and the one including next season will be 22/23, 23/24 and 24/25 so all that spending we did in 21/22 will no longer go into the FFP calculation. The hope is that we'll have made enough money this year from CL, Sela deal and the Wood & ASM sales to keep us out of bother, then once 1st July 2024 rolls round that big loss in 21/22 is no longer in the figures.

I know this has been mentioned previously but some ACDC popped up on my Spotify shuffle this morning and it made me wonder why the f**k we don't have Hells Bells and/or Thunderstruck on before the teams come out??

If their appeal over the current 10-point deduction is unsuccessful and the latest charge is upheld then they'll get any additional punishment this season.

The uncomfortable truth is that there have always been haves and have nots, often based on who has the richest owners. Liverpool and Moores, Blackburn/Walker, us with SJH up to Abramovic and Sheikh Mansour. I'm sure those with better knowledge than me can go back even further. The only difference now is that the "haves" are the clubs who happened to be the most successful when the rules were implemented. If they were really concerned about clubs going bust there would be a considerably greater distribution of wealth from the Premier League down the pyramid and allow owners to inject money or increase debt as long as it is guaranteed by tangible assets of the owners (not the clubs themselves).

I understand the reasons why but it really wouldn't be a great look if you have multiple clubs all being charged and disciplined for FFP breaches while the Man City case continues to rumble along in the background. Assuming their case starts as planned towards the end of this year, it isn't going to be resolved until the end of the 24/25 season and that's without the inevitable appeal from whoever loses. We could have half a dozen clubs or more charged and punished for indiscretions by then.

I think they had convinced themselves that they were going to attract one of Europe's best & brightest managerial talents. To go from that to Beale was always going to be a tough pill to swallow. Obviously he is a bit rubbish too which doesn’t help but he's about the level of a middling Championship team.

Kieran Maguire has just tweeted this morning, if it had gone up with "football inflation" (not sure exactly what that means) then the acceptable losses would be £218m over three years.

We also had Sociedad move their asking price for Isak - they initially said we'd have to meet his release clause but their position softened later in the window and that's when we got the deal done.

Seems a little over-dramatic? We had Tonali and Barnes who, suspension/injury aside would have presumably been first team regulars. Livramento has been one of our best performers this season when called upon. Hall is loan-to-buy so has had little impact on our FFP position this window. Truth is, our squad was miles away from being able to compete on multiple fronts. We were never going to bridge that gap in one or two windows and the injury issues have just highlighted that fact. I'm absolutely fine with the three signings we made on the basis that the three of them can expect to be regular first-team players in the next few seasons.

It's a ludicrous system. You've put in the work scouting a player like Luiz, you've put your money on the table and he's been a success. Now you're in a position where you have to sell him to Man City, Man Utd etc. otherwise you can't afford to compete with...Man City, Man Utd etc? Same with us and Isak. We took the punt, we paid the money, we should be able to reap the rewards for as long as his contract allows. But no, the only way we can afford to improve our squad substantially is to sell him, most likely to one of the clubs we're trying to overtake.

Those figures do support something I remember reading earlier this season - that we could be well positioned to spend a decent amount this summer. If we're at #7 in terms of revenue before things like the Sela deal, the CL income and the Adidas sponsorship come into play then that should give us some flexibility once we move into the 24/25 accounting period.

Revenue is what matters and we'll have around £30m from CL this season, plus Sela which is £20m or so? Edit - Sela is £25m and Adidas is £30m+

Singing "Sunlun 'till I die!" while walking out before the game finishes...

I don't really understand the issue - there was clearly no problem with us having 6k fans there. What was there, something like 8 arrests? And no violence, or at least nothing being reported.

So we simultaneously can't afford a £7m loan fee for Phillips and are making enquiries for a starting PL striker with four years left on his contract.

One of the teams made five subs?? Edit - or four subs at the same time?

How did they raise the money, Just Giving or something like that? Surely there are protections in place to make sure donations are used for their intended purpose?

I think that's more in hope than expectation, unless they have some inside knowledge. Professional rugby is an absolute money pit, especially up here where there just isn't enough of an appetite for it.

Singing "Six in a row" at full time Unfortunately, on today's showing its going to take us until sometime in 2042 before we've played them five more times...