Can’t compete...

Let’s be honest about our financial situation. Last season’s best goalkeeper in League One, with a record number of clean sheets, was Adam Davies. He was also our captain. He chose to leave us to become the third choice keeper at one of our main rivals. He doesn’t even get on the bench, yet has doubled or tripled his wages.

One of the best defenders in League One, Ethan Pinnock, refused to sign a new contract and went to one of our rivals. He doesn’t start many games and is mostly on the bench, yet has doubled or tripled his wages.

Liam Lindsay does the same and the Stoke fans think he’s rubbish and shouldn’t be anywhere near their team. He’s doubled or tripled his wages.

Kieffer Moore chooses to sign for another of our main rivals and is a regular starter, but has hardly scored a goal all season. He’s doubled or tripled his wages.

These four are hardly taking the Championship by storm, they’re bit part players at best, yet we can’t afford them! What does that tell us? We are miles off being anywhere near being able to compete in this division. The gulf is massive and as things stand in football we belong in League One, with very little hope of anything better. Promotion is a curse, as it brings misery and humiliation for a season.

My overall conclusion: the game I loved when watching Glavin, Banks, Parker, Aylott, McCarthy, Currie, Cooper etc etc is done. Money is king and my club can’t compete at the same level.

League One football is a hugely inferior product, miles behind the top two divisions and doesn’t represent value for money. Time for a new perspective and I’ll be watching non league football next season...

 

You’ve been brainwashed to believe this. Most of the ‘better’ clubs are no bigger than us.

 

Is it that we can't afford them or is it that we choose not to?

Are we better off giving a proven defender like Pinnock extra wages or paying 3 or 4 inferior defenders to replace him?

 

Fair points. You may be right...

 

Pinnock and Moore should have been kept until January. We still.would have got money from their sales and they'd have stabilised our side and Pinnock would have helped bed the new defence in.

 

Errr, Pinnock was offered a contract extension to make him the highest paid player at the club for this season. He turned it down.......

Lindsay wouldn’t even talk to us.

Davies went for a last pay day.

 

Fully agree.

The fans didn’t want bank rolling - we’re all ultimately proud of our good financial health, despite being frustrated to hell with it at times.

We’ll operate as a yo-yo club for a few season, but we’ll get there.

 

We broke our transfer record
It was the best transfer window in the club's history
Pinnock turned down a record contract extension
The owners haven't taken a penny out
They aren't allowed to say more than 21 words unless you're sat round a table then it's 20 minutes

I don't trust a word they say. Why would I believe one of those things?

 

I do, as I’ve seen no evidence to suggest otherwise yet. And the players we signed this summer will have cost a lot of money.

 

You haven't seen anything to suggest they tell mistruths yet?

 

Nope. Nothing factual.

Maybe a few unanswered questions, but then that’s business.

 

Yes. They're stand up guys these.

 

Absolute pile. Preston squad assembled for less than ours, we have a higher wage bill than Luton.

 

I agree and Red Rain has spelt it out in numbers for all to see. There’s a reason you can’t just point to a team like Preston and say “ do what they do”. It’s because they are an anomaly which by definition is hard to replicate.

 

I don't think its just a matter of financial clout in the championship. There are the have's and have nots and the gap is wide but there are enough clubs not too dissimilar to ours for us to compete.

It's more about ambition and shortsighted attitudes at the top of the club in my opinion.

 

You might be right and hope you are. If we're not prepared to compete with the likes of Brentford or Wigan in terms of wages it's a futile exercise.

 

Only Davies was out of contract though. The others could have been kept by the club and even if we lost out on some or all of their transfer value it would have been a good investment to keep us up this first season. As things stand we are going to have to start again next season in Ig 1 and trust we can bounce straight back again, which is by no means a foregone conclusion

 

We will never be able to compete with Brentford whilst their owner is willing to pump in over £10 million over last couple of years.

 

It’s well recognised that if a player wants to go so they can triple their wages, it’s best to let them go.

 

Agreed. That's it in a nutshell.