do most fans still think the boards transfer policy is correct?

Well roll on 4 in a row for rangers then eh?

 

Same with every club bar Chelsea and Man City.

Look at Arsenal just now, selling their best players and they have a far greater financial position than us.

If we had people on here at the helm the doors would be close a long time ago.

 

Well we certainly hope not and nobody should expect that. We should have won it last season and blew it at the last minute.

We have brought in Wilson to strengthen the CB position and we are looking at others...plenty time in window yet.

 

Not sure we would be having this conversation if we won on Sunday ... or if the bigger teams keep getting bigger and the separation keeps growing.

 

A club like Celtic could easily affor a wee bit of debt sat 5-6million no problem, surely thats better than being debt free and being second in a 2 horse race every year ffs!!

 

Spot on. The board cannot be faulted for us not beating St Johnstone with that team out.

 

Threads merged.

 

The Celtic debt was more than that until recently. The club are still looking to bring players in like Lennon has said. £5-6m doesnt allow many players...youve got to remember that wages are on top of that over say a 3,4,or 5 year contract.

 

You can't run a succesful football club without being in debt, if the club don't want to be in debt at least they could tell the fans that thats the policy they are following!!

 

The team needs investment. Yes there was a lot of investment last year and yes we shopped very wisely bit now is the time for a little tweak but with the same sort of money being spent.
£3m for a ST and £3m for a CB is not excessive and would buy us the quality we need. We could also spend a few quid on a lower league player with the right qualities - such as Le Fondre.
But as for the 2 players we really need, then * yeah, chequebook time!
Although with injuries taking their toll the way they are we really need;
Quality CB
Quality ST
Cheap but capable ST
Loanee LB
Bring those 4 in and we'll be fine! But we do need to spend the money in the first place. Go on Dermot, you know it makes sense!

 

The club are in debt and that will be increasing again shortly

 

Thats £6m investment before wages....thats huge for us these days.

 

The huns are supposedly falling apart at the seams with debt and tax problems and they have spen 600,000 more than us this year.

 

I totally respect your opinion, but I'm sorry to say I can't agree with it. I personally will never forgive Peter lawwell for not giving Gordon Strachan the money to buy Steven Fletcher or another striker, which would have won us 4 in a row and buried them. Which supporter honestly gives a * about our financial situation? How have Rangers been in a financial crisis for a few years, yet still been able to win 3 titles in a row? I'd much rather be in debt and win titles and trophies rather than have a steady debt but lose the title year in, year out. I am aware we cannot compete with the premiership. However, we should certainly be able to compete with the championship and the smaller leagues in Europe eg Swiss, Belgian, Austrian leagues. Whislt they were supposedly skint, how could rRngers go out and buy Jelavic for £4 million? Why did he coem to the SPL, before you give me crap about players not wanting to play in the SPL.-Why did Larsson, Laudrup, Sutton etc come to Scotland then? It is evident Mr Lawwell lacks ambition; as long as Celtic's bank balance is OK, nothing else, including the title matters for him as he is a cheap skate and was good for Celtic when he first came, but has made major *-ups.

 

Well they supposedley dont have any debt now and were going to spend millions this summer....but havnt.

Celtic are still looking to buy players.

 

Peter Lawell announced at the same time as they fanfared the lack of debt that he had a 5 year plan for Celtic which involves winning the SPL and gaining entry to the CL. We will forget whats happened in the last 3 seasons for now.

So what does that mean? Well, first off we need to win our league. Given that the side we have wasnt good enough last season to win i,. its gonna be an uphill task. We have also lost the 3 most influential players in the team for the time being. Never more glaring than on Sunday. We have lost Andreas Hinkel and a few others punted out on loan. Brought in? 3. Two from the Championship on a free, and one £900k signing. Only one, to be honest looks like he will be a regular starter. So despite having not been good enough to win the league last season, we would appear to be a little weaker at the moment. Not a good start Peter.

The CL is a different matter. The pot of gold for all European Football teams. A level that countless teams across Europe are investing heavily in to try access. So how does our board intend to tackle this one. By getting in a couple of frees and a young signing for £900k? What is Peters secret that dozens of clubs across Europe dont know? How can we manage to get to this level without spending the fortunes that other clubs do?

Well, first of all we have to win the title with a side that is no stronger than it was last season. That cant be argued. For the moment. To win the title we are against a R*****s who, despite the fawning sympathy from the media over lack of money and resources , are still going out to sign players. Are they weaker? They have lost Bougherra, and thats about it.

Its a big , no, huge task that Peter Lawell and the board have set themselves. If we fall at the first hurdle, who will fall on their sword? Peter Lawell? Not a chance, it will be the manager that will go.

Personally I feel that the board doesnt need to spend 10's of millions and tip us over the edge financially, but if they are unable to drum up a few million to allow Neil to strengthen the squad then Sunday's result may be a lot more regular than we might hope for.

 

And what about the rewards?

Champions and CL football and with it, CL cash!

In business sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate - it's about * time that happened at CP!

 

In the past I didn't agree with The Board's stance but having seen the effect finance has had on Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Leeds, both Sheffield teams, to name but a few, they are fine by me. Two things I would say in their defence,

1. If we spend £4 ml on a 'quality?' player and then pay him "25k pw on a 3 year contract, our outlay is MINIMUM £5.3 ml - this ignores bonuses and annual lump sum payments throughout his contract. So we need to recoup a minimum of £5.3 ml from somewhere for this 1 Player, just to break even. As WGS has said, it is not the transfer fee that is the worry. It is the weekly wage and bonuses.

2. Like it or not we tend to look across the border to England. Good article in the Scotsman by Stephen Halliday last Saturday. Last year our Gross income from ALL sources was just over £56ml. Spurs, who finished 5th in the EPL, received £53ml from the EPL alone. Blackpool, relegated, received £37ml. We cannot compete with these figures and never will because we are stuck in the SPL and unless the SPL gets better, the financial position of the SPL and our Clubs will get worse because Sky, ESPN, BBC will not want to pay much for our class of football and therefore the SPL coffers will continue to be low.

If both the Old Firm get knocked out of the Europa League this week, in 2013 the SPL Champions will be playing football from June in round 1 of the Qualifying Stage of the Champions League along with teams from San Marino, Faroe Isles, League of Wales and the likes.

Recommended web site, The Swiss Ramble. It gives a great insight into the financial affairs of Football Clubs across Europe.

So to The Board I say, keep doing what you are doing because, as good as it was at the time, I don't want my Club to get back to the days of MON who left us in debt to the tune of around £25ml.

 

Larsson, sutton etc came in a different time mate. That was long ago. Times are different. Income is lower.

Celtic lost the title last season due to blunders against small teams, inverness in particular...when the title was almost won. That was not the boards fault.

The club are still in debt and that will be rising again. We are still in for players too as lennon said.

 

There is no guarantee of CL football at all.