Saint Without a Halo

Well actually I am but I suggest you read the rest of my post as my argument is about the balance of frugal spending change and stability

Aha with the state of the French economy for him to deal with it's no wonder he has no money left to splash out on Koeman and players

One summer could be an aberration two is possibly coincidence but what happens if it becomes three? There are only so many rabbits we can keep pulling out of the hat Also it doesn't give a very good message to our players if our last two successful up and coming managers both leave claiming lack of ambition (plus more money of course) One could be misguided but two in a row, if indeed it happens, will be more than a coincidence. The club has banked a fair profit on transfers over the last two seasons and with the new TV money coming in we need to acknowledge that all clubs will be spending more so we should aim to loosen the purse strings and spend more on chosen elements of our team and management that have the greatest probability of achieving success. I would argue Koeman certainly falls into this category I acknowledge we are a well run club that deals well with the changes that are necessary as we rightly insist on working within prescribed budgets and that as a result we attract good unnoticed players and give them a stage to display their talents (This is a well thought out strategy for a club of our size) However the balance between good tight wage caps and annual budgets when set against change and stability is a difficult one to get right especially with more money pouring into the game. But we surely cannot continuously depend on our back room staff to keep coming up with good replacement managers and key players year after year without increased risk of getting it wrong. Therefore I believe that with the funds we now have we can and need to err a tad on the side of stability this season The profits made on transfers over the last two seasons plus the new TV deal should enable us to be selective on who we decide to spend money on too keep and who we don't!

We threw 16m plus wages away on Osvaldo surely 7m on Koeman if he signs a two year extension minus the compensation we would get when he leaves next year is a good deal for all involved

As someone who has watched the national side since the 66 World Cup winning side I can say that Watching England these days has gone beyond the frustrating and is now just plain boring

first we have to beat them then pose the question! Drawing with a ten man Ronaldo less Portugal at home is even worse

If we paid 12m for Ramierez and 16m for Osvaldo surely Koeman is worth 6m to us?

Awful game where he was played out of his normal position! He was never really given the chance and Woy was always going to take Wilshire, Henderson, Sturidge and Sterling all of whom are hardly on form I would have taken DD and Townsend both of whom are currently on top of their games also with no Walcott and Ox I would have thought Townsends pace from out wide provides something the rest of the squad lacks

With an agreed purchase price like Toby's?

You seem to forget Vic and his agent will have a big say in where he ends up if and when sold it is not entirely in our hands as they need to agree terms

JWP just got a lot stronger after lifting that massive Toulon tournament cup

Great goal watching it on live tv here got great height and perfect header for a small lad

Spurs want Davis (the dressing room needs sorting out following the collapse that let to St Totringhams day once again arriving)

Given the way football is currently structured particularly in England is is TV and commercial revenues that form the bulk of income and not ticket revenues. However you do need a large following both locally and worldwide to ensure you maximise the use commercial revenue and get a larger share of the TV pie. So the point made regarding more fans and cheaper tickets to attract them is well made, but so should more marketing efforts on building up the clubs profile overseas We are a long way behind the leading European clubs in this aspect.

Nivea boy, Wilshire off Hendersen and sterling have been crap too and Drinkwater is being played out of position

Is that a taxable benefit or an inducement under the bribery and corruption act

The reason the four champions league places are allocated to the league is because this is the best way of maintaining our coefficient in the competition ( calculated over the last 5 seasons and we have not done to well lately) it is only the top three countries who get 4 champions league places ( three group and one qualifying) if we allocate one to the FACup there is a danger of reducing the coefficient which would then in turn lead to only three places being allocated to us As each place brings in approx 50m euros on average I cannot really see the FA gambling with our current 4 CL places one of which is now in danger anyway as we have slipped behind Spain and Germany over recent seasons with Italy now very close to taking 3rd place http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/ We used to lead this coefficient league some ten years ago but Spain and Germany now out perform us regularly look at th is year in particular with two Spanish teams in the CL final and one winning the Europa cup too See above link

Got the most pts and wins in a premier season Are on track for the best ever premier calendar year Most wins against the top 10 in a premier season Last yr 14/15 conceded the least number of goals and had the best ever goal difference in a premier season

The report in the link above refers to a so called Gentlemans agreement with Spurs why on earth would we limit ourselves commercially we would surely sell to whoever gives us the best acceptable price

Spot on

But according to this so accurate account we have a gentlemans agreement with them! Are we that naive after they have tempted away our manager and recruitment specialist behind our backs in the last couple of years

oK he basically took a swipe at us not wanting to spend big compared to Scousehampton to,keep our key players and spend more to make the next move to a champions league level and said he had no sympathy for paying mega bucks to attract out top talent He is now at a club where he is saying prudence spending small and recruiting from the youth team is the way forward ( obviously by necessity) yet he believes they are a top world club and their current strategy ( even more prudent than the one he critisized us for ) is sufficient to maintain a top world club position and go on and challenge in the Champions league It must be just me but I do detect a smidgin of hypocrisy in his new position compared to his previous stance when he knew he could out spend us. This is not the first time his ill judged quotes about other clubs have come back to haunt him The quote patronizing quote calling Spurs a failure for not having won the league with their spend post Bale also came back to haunt him when he subsequently failed to even get a Champions league place with an even greater spend post Suarez.

He intimated that our policy of selling key players (to him mainly using the millions raised from Suarez who he couldn't hang on to) and subsequently replacing them with youth or players not as well known (i.e cheaper) showed a ditinct lack of ambition And that we didn't aspire to the champions league I believe that given where he finds Celtic, (a club not currently blessed with millions given the league they are in and no Suarez like players leaving) his statements on not spending and promoting youth are a pragmatic necessity. However it is interesting that he now finds this approach consistent with being, as he states " a top world club" and one not at odds to competing in the Champions league.

If or When?

http://www.skysports.com/share/10292304 Contrary to his previous statements about Saints lack of ambition when spending up to £50m of Liverpools money on Saints Players He now apparently believes Celtic is and can remain a top world club by looking within, to its academy, rather than shelling out large £10m or £5m fees Wasn't that the Saints strategy he was particularly scathing about, stating lack of ambition etc? I wonder how he will enjoy Saints if we continue to raid our recent feeder club Celtic now the boot is on the other foot Is he therefore a hypocrite or just a pragmatist building up Celtic as a top world club that cannot currently afford £5m to £10m players because of the league it plays in