Up to Slaven now

[billybassett]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

[Jacobthebaggie]

VVD would have looked a useless twat in a Pardew coached/instructed team. Stop referring back to that shit shower time and give them chance

[Birdman1811]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

We competed for years spending less than our rivals.

Good coaching, management and scouting makes more difference.

[SW4Baggie]

Dean Smith was given near enough £150m, 38 games, and survived because VAR was turned off. By the sounds of it, we are giving Slaven a 5th of the budget and a handful of games.

Smith spent £15m in January after being appointed, over £160m last season and a further £100m this summer - that's £275m, with a token £5m or so in sales.

In the same time frame we have made a profit of £4m + anything we get for Ferguson.

The point is well made - figures slightly different mind

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-...=&intern=0

£217m spent for Villa over 3 years

God, I fucking hate Villa. I'm clearly not going to like them anymore over the course of this season either!

When I eventually watched MOTD2, and their game against Liverpool, I was actually swearing at the screen when Dean Smith was interviewed afterwards. Smarmy Villa twat.

TransferMarkt undercooks some of the numbers, it doesn’t put add-ons or loan fees in. Mine was using the numbers reported at the time plus their loans... hence being higher.

[Dumbo]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

We competed for years spending less than our rivals.

Good coaching, management and scouting makes more difference.

The gulf was never that big before though. 

Although budget wise we were always close to bottom, our wage turnover was mid table in our 8 year stretch in the Prem.

[Birdman1811]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

We competed for years spending less than our rivals.

Good coaching, management and scouting makes more difference.

The gulf was never that big before though. 

Although budget wise we were always close to bottom, our wage turnover was mid table in our 8 year stretch in the Prem.

True.

However I do still always buy that coached well, scouting uncovering the right players, we can compete. Many expensive transfers don't work out. I'm not saying we're competitive this year, I feel even if Bilic get's everything right, we may have too much a mountain to climb. However long term we can get there with proper planning.

[ElbowGrease1973]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

We competed for years spending less than our rivals.

Good coaching, management and scouting makes more difference.

It does, but ultimately money talks in the end.

When Ashworth & Hodgson worked together, that was as good as we had it in terms of the three areas you mentioned. Unfortunately, they were always going to leave us for a higher profile & higher paid job. It's a big ask to then replace them with equally skilled individuals on our budget. If you've got a shit load of money & budget it's easier to do this, although still not a guarantee.

[Birdman1811]

And look how much shit they spunked that money on. They sadly got more right this summer.

It's also worth noting how much our supposed rivals for relegation have spent over the same period:

Sheff Utd £116m
Burnley £29m
Fulham £137m
Wet Spam £136m
Brighton £130m
Leeds £71m

We are so far behind with our £5m profit... how anyone can really expect us to compete is deluded and even if we spend £15m on Grant it's still nothing compared to these teams.

We competed for years spending less than our rivals.

Good coaching, management and scouting makes more difference.

It does, but ultimately money talks in the end.

When Ashworth & Hodgson worked together, that was as good as we had it in terms of the three areas you mentioned. Unfortunately, they were always going to leave us for a higher profile & higher paid job. It's a big ask to then replace them with equally skilled individuals on our budget. If you've got a shit load of money & budget it's easier to do this, although still not a guarantee.

We were fine replacing Roy with Clarke since Clarke was ideal to work in that structure we had. Several players mentioned how excellent the training was under Clarke, ad that's why we did so well while he had the squad he said he needed. Once Ashworth left and a lot of stuff happened in the back, Clarke was no longer the right guy, then we needed a Roy. Sadly McDonut, who super_slav will tell you was a great guy from a great family, completely undid EVERYTHING Ashworth did.

[Big Daddy Cool]

We can't compete with other teams for money so we need great coaching and great scouting. Looking at our games recently especially defensively, i'm uncertain about how good the coaching actually is. What I do know is those players give 100% for Slav, he's a great motivator and leader. Maybe the coaches he has with him aren't up to the task.

In terms of scouting we've obviously gone backwards since the days of Ashworth where other clubs looked at us as the model. It concerns me that our best signings were Slav's recommendations. Dowling doesn't convince me at all. His interview on Sky during the lock down when he said that we only prepared one list of players which was for the Premier League the season we crashed out in the play offs was just amateurish. We don't seem to want to look outside England for players either.

[Birdman1811]

Dowling has done a lot right.

I do hope though the scouting is being looked at. The investment is significant to get the scouting back though, and Pulis was never interested in doing so, all money was put towards getting back up in the Champ and then of course this season has been hit hard by Covid. However long term I think it's very important.