NIXON's news today!

From the People -

- Freedman had persuaded Moritz to join on a cheap one year deal but the Bolton 'money men' blocked it.

- Craig Dawson has said he wants to stay at West Brom and isn't coming here.

- Blackburn want Craig Davies


There is also an interview with Freedman in the paper where he is asking the board to 'back him in the market'. Says the squad isn't strong enough, that we haven't replaced Spearing and Dawson and that we don't have adequate cover to compete for promotion as it stands.

If Moritz is a cheap deal, why would the Bolton 'money men' block it ?

Bad news about Dawson, we need to look elsewhere for a CB now, maybe a loan move for an out of favour CB from the PL.

We'll swap CD for Rhodes.

In other words, the board are letting Freedman down , after when he first signed he said the board were as ambitious as him to gain promotion .

Well obviously not now it seems , Gartside out.

Not surprised by any of that to be fair, I did think we'd need to sell before we buy considering how many players we now have on too much money and Dawson hasn't looked on all summer.

The board are going to have to find some money from somewhere, we can't rely on Blackpool taking Mills and Andrews, could leave it too late for us.

If they haven't got the money they haven't got it.

Everyone knows the budget is limited but despite that we've still brought a lot of people in on what will be very good wages.

Hence the tension that was mentioned a few weeks ago where DF could be walking.  Sounds so similar to the BSA situation years ago, when the board would not support his efforts (of course there was the little scandal then as well!). 
DF is right that the team is short in a few areas.  If you want to move up, you have to have some money and DF has done a great job with next to nothing.  Thank you OC for leaving us fat cats with contracts and no ability to play on the pitch.

They'll promise him the earth while keeping their fingers crossed behind their backs while he signed up. You know, the same game we played in the schoolyard. He was "green" enough to fall for it because of his big salary offer. Same old same old I'm afraid.

Df could be the best thing to happen to bwfc in a long time. Probably since big Sam. And they need to speculate to accumulate as the old saying goes and it doesn't look like they want to risk it

I can't imagine they said.

"Hey it's a waterfall here Dougie, unlimited cash, man city aint got shit on us mate"

I think he knew full well he'd be working within a budget, not forgetting the highest wage bill in the league at the time.

we've still brought in players to add to that.

Do all the people who want us to splash the cash do that at home? When your bank statement says zero do you get 2 or 3 credit cards and buy a new tv and car and then go 10 grand over drawn to get a motorbike? No. Dream on I'm afraid.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:I can't imagine they said.

"Hey it's a waterfall here Dougie, unlimited cash, man city aint got shit on us mate"

I think he knew full well he'd be working within a budget, not forgetting the highest wage bill in the league at the time.

we've still brought in players to add to that.

Do all the people who want us to splash the cash do that at home? When your bank statement says zero do you get 2 or 3 credit cards and buy a new tv and car and then go 10 grand over drawn to get a motorbike? No. Dream on I'm afraid.

Not sure if that is a good analogy, but if there is a pot of gold for going up, and DF has done wonders for next to nothing, find a few quid to give him a fighting chance. If the preseason was good for anything, it showed us what our defense looked like without Dawson.  We will have to score 4 or more every week to get a win from the likes of our defense. 

My guess is that DF is wondering why we came here right now. He is working miraculous deals quietly, and perhaps, and I emphasize perhaps (since we never know), the board is not supporting him in this effort. 

If I said it would cost 2 or 3 million quid to be in contention for 120 million quid next season, would you think the risk to be good?  I also would tell you that many of the OC players will be out of contract after this season, leaving us in a better position cash wise.  What risks do you take this season to try and hit the next level?  The only thing that would stop us is if ED said no more spending, which may be the case.  I think Gartside saw this all coming to a head years ago when he proposed a change in the EPL.  If oil was replaced by another form of energy, the league would be much more level than today.  Who can compete save six or seven clubs at the top?  DF has been a breath of fresh air working miracles... see Feb-May last season.  For very little money we went from near relegation to near playoffs.  The wage bill has been trimmed greatly, but it takes some money to make money. I think we are only a player or two away from promotion and it is my hope that DF will get those players later on when their value to their home clubs has taken a turn for the worse.  He has a sharp eye for talent and a keen mind for getting players to play for us for less money than they want.  I hope the Board does not drive DF away.

I can't imagine they did but they obviously said enough to make him bite! Or perhaps he was just plain stupid enough to leave a team pushing and ultimately getting a place in the prem for a team languishing precariously close to relegation? I don't think he's stupid but it would appear he won't be given the tools to do the job! Or then again Garty might have said you are an up and coming manager who we want at our club which is in the shit and we have no cash? Yes, the latter is probably what they said eh?

It is a good analogy because thats what's happening.

trust me if they did say "right we'll go all in here and spend the 4/5 million quid, it's either promotion or administration now"

If we didn't go up the same people moaning about the lack of spending would be on here giving it the big one about how "reckless and stupid" Gartside is and calling for him to go.

I expect there's a budget that they're not willing to cross while we're in the championship and not absolute shoe ins for promotion. It's sensible, unless of course you want to be looking at another Cov/Pompey.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:It is a good analogy because thats what's happening.

trust me if they did say "right we'll go all in here and spend the 4/5 million quid, it's either promotion or administration now"

If we didn't go up the same people moaning about the lack of spending would be on here giving it the big one about how "reckless and stupid" Gartside is and calling for him to go.

I expect there's a budget that they're not willing to cross while we're in the championship and not absolute shoe ins for promotion. It's sensible, unless of course you want to be looking at another Cov/Pompey.

Sensible but we are talking about the same Gartside and Board who approved all of OC's expenditures... including signing Knight to a new 2 year contract.  I wouldn't trust them to be straight about anything.  I think that ED is the final decision maker, and perhaps he wants more than his interest back.  Of course if it was his business, and you had aging equipment and saw a future in modernizing, I think he might think differently.  Perhaps he should have scrapped the administration and let DF lead us out of this mess?

The windfall for getting back up should be enough motive to invest now while we still have a shot.  I think this season will be it for our chances to ever get back to the Prem.  Surely the few decent players we have will be off if we remain in the Champs.
Haggling over 1 or 2 million for new players is just a joke to me at our supposed level.  The Debt issue is certainly a problem but it's not the same as us spending for a new car on a credit card. BWFC has to spend to get hold of that tv prem money....spend money to make money.  
My long running argument for years now is that the club be sold to somebody who can pump money in.

Soul Kitchen wrote:I can't imagine they did but they obviously said enough to make him bite! Or perhaps he was just plain stupid enough to leave a team pushing and ultimately getting a place in the prem for a team languishing precariously close to relegation? I don't think he's stupid but it would appear he won't be given the tools to do the job! Or then again Garty might have said you are an up and coming manager who we want at our club which is in the shit and we have no cash? Yes, the latter is probably what they said eh?

"no cash"

apart from obviously Beckford, Tierney, Baptiste, Rob Hall, Craig Davies, Medo. We've also added a lot young players to the development squad.

we also had the highest wage bill in the league last season and i suspect we have one of the highest this season.

Sluffy wrote:From the People -

- Freedman had persuaded Moritz to join on a cheap one year deal but the Bolton 'money men' blocked it.

- Craig Dawson has said he wants to stay at West Brom and isn't coming here.

- Blackburn want Craig Davies


There is also an interview with Freedman in the paper where he is asking the board to 'back him in the market'. Says the squad isn't strong enough, that we haven't replaced Spearing and Dawson and that we don't have adequate cover to compete for promotion as it stands.

Forgetting the first point a second, why would Dawson want to come play in the championship again when he has a chance of getting games in the prem with a good team.

If Rovers want Davies then let him go, I just don't think he is good enough.

As for the Moritz thing, I just think the board have said to DF, get shut of some of the fringe players to free up some funds then you can sign more players, we have never been a rich club so I can't see what the fuss is about.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Soul Kitchen wrote:I can't imagine they did but they obviously said enough to make him bite! Or perhaps he was just plain stupid enough to leave a team pushing and ultimately getting a place in the prem for a team languishing precariously close to relegation? I don't think he's stupid but it would appear he won't be given the tools to do the job! Or then again Garty might have said you are an up and coming manager who we want at our club which is in the shit and we have no cash? Yes, the latter is probably what they said eh?

"no cash"

apart from obviously Beckford, Tierney, Baptiste, Rob Hall, Craig Davies, Medo. We've also added a lot young players to the development squad.

we also had the highest wage bill in the league last season and i suspect we have one of the highest this season.

Not to mention the staff brought in and moved out, that's not cheap either.

Dougie's been backed there's no doubt about that, but as Hipster says the board can't (and shouldn't) give him money we don't have.

The wage bill is one of the biggest in the championship, they're not forcing him to reduce it but they clearly don't want it increasing again. Get some of the crap out and with a decent center back I think we can be confident going into next year.

Perhaps we can get a decent centre back on eBay? Or presumably we get some of the crap out, which clubs are clambering over themselves to take, and then get a centre back is that it?

Soul Kitchen wrote:Perhaps we can get a decent centre back on eBay? Or presumably we get some of the crap out, which clubs are clambering over themselves to take, and then get a centre back is that it?

Pretty obvious what's meant by - 

'get shot of some of the fringe players to free up some funds to sign more players'


I don't think you should need any extra clarification.


It goes without saying that every fan would love unlimited cash to throw at it,but we need to be realistic. Getting rid of our shit, reducing the wage bill and then spending is the realistic option.

It ain't going to happen, we won't get shut of the crap and we won't get a new centre back! I don't need any clarification I was messing!! I think we could be in a situation that if DF does alright and he has already been pissed about then, as has been said by someone previous, he'll do one. He's here at the mo because he's reputedly on big bucks, simple as that, doesn't mean he's no ambition.

I think the fact he has ambition is the main reason he's here. We have far more going for us long term than Palace do, he knows if he can get us back up we're far better prepared to stay up.

He's been backed and he knew there would be financial constraints, he'll get round them by selling.