Top four buying up all the talent?

[johnnypd]

There's absolutely no point these days thinking that fanbase is some amazing ticket to acquiring the best players.

 

ALL clubs have money, and shit loads of it. That is the new financial landscape of football. 30m a year TV money to the bottom club, 50m to the top, these are immense figures.

 

Yes, the better players want to play week in week out for the top four, CL clubs, but they can't all do that. Given this, there is little incentive to move from one cushy second tier club to another.

 

This is what has skewed the market these days. Look at a player like David Bentley. What real reason is there for him to move from Blackburn to, say, Newcastle, Everton or Villa? There isn't. It'd be a sideways move.

 

This is why it is so hard to sign decent players from within the UK these days - especially in the January window.

 

Clubs will have to make play of things like who their manager is, where they are located (massive, massive advantage to comparatively unappealing clubs like West Ham), their training facilities etc etc.

 

Football hasn't stood still for the last few years, everything has changed. Everything.

 

[Dave]

I think we all hope Keegan can still make players fall in love with Newcastle United.